Meet the Animagus
by SweetDeamon
Summary: "This was supposed to be a relaxing getaway!" Dora shrieked furiously. "Which MORON thought it was a good idea to bring HER with us!" "Well Sweetheart," Remus mumbled warily at the risk of being hexed, "That would have been you..." Rated M AU TLOC RLNT
1. The Sneak

_Note: Hello again! This is **Meet the Animagus**, which is the 5th story in the Meet the... series. The other stories in reading order are: Meet the Lupins, Meet the Muggles, Meet the Marauders and Meet the Order of the Phoenix. As with the other stories this can pretty much stand alone, anything of importance from previous stories will be explained fully in this 'fic._

_This is an AU 'ficverse in which Remus and Tonks survived the final battle. Caroline "Carrie" Winters is a muggle whose family moved in next door to the Lupins and she subsequently befriended Teddy and found out about the magical world. Currently she lives with her Aunt Susan, as explained briefly below._

_**This story is rated M** for the adult scenes in future chapters. Consider yourselves warned!_

_I shall take this moment to admit that I have managed to confuse myself with the timeline, since I never put a precise date upon Carrie's birthday and merely suggested it was towards the end of the summer, I have managed to confuse myself dreadfully regarding her age during this story. For now I shall claim she is eighteen, due to be nineteen later on in the year. I think that's correct...if not, simply feel sorry for my lack of mathematical brilliance!_

_This story is dedicated to the wonderful reviewers of Meet the Order of the Phoenix, for making it the most reviewed story I've ever written, with a current count of 325 reviews! Thank you so much for your feedback and I hope you enjoy Carrie's latest adventure!_

_Anyway, after this, the longest Author's Note in the world, we join Carrie once again at the beginning of her most favourite time of year, and yet again we begin with glorious sunshine, because I'm wonderfully unoriginal when it comes to my opening sentences..._

**1: The Sneak**

It was a gloriously bright Saturday afternoon in the town of Eddington, and upon the gravel driveway of a large semi-detached house set in the town's sleepy outskirts, a great crowd of rather unusual looking people were gathering, all dressed up to look their very best.

Inside the house itself, in a bedroom upstairs away from all the excitement, Carrie Winters was in the middle of a crisis. Locked away in the privacy of her boyfriend's bedroom, having expelled both said boyfriend and his meddlesome tie that he had been busy tying into increasingly baffling knots, she stood before the bed, glaring furiously down at the two dresses that she had carefully lain out half an hour previously. She was pondering an age old question that she was pretty sure had been plaguing the minds of people the world over for centuries:

What should I wear?

In truth, Carrie wasn't really the sort of girl to spend hours fussing over her appearance and if she were entirely honest with herself she would have to admit that she felt a little silly for spending such a long time deciding upon her outfit for the afternoon. In all honesty it didn't really matter what she wore for this, the most exciting event that she had been counting down to for the past few months, because the most important thing was that she was going to be there in the first place.

She very nearly hadn't made it. She had very nearly failed to persuade her boss Peter to give her the day off from work.

"How do you suppose I'm going to cope," he'd demanded to know the previous Saturday when she had finally broached the subject with him, "running this place all on my own?"

Carrie had wanted to point out that running an on-campus bookshop stocking textbooks for the students of her University when the majority of said students had already left to go home for the summer holidays was in actual fact a complete and utter doddle, indeed that day they had only had a couple of customers, neither of whom had actually bought anything. But she had known better than to point this out to her melodramatic employer. Instead she had explained:

"But it's my boyfriend's parents' twentieth wedding anniversary, Peter! They're going to have a blessing and a huge party and I promised everybody that I would be there!"

Peter had spent a good few minutes grumbling under his breath about how he didn't understand the point of blessings and how people should simply have their wedding and that ought be the end of it, but Carrie had ignored him and offered to have her wages docked in exchange for being allowed to go home a week early.

She hadn't bothered attempting to explain that if she had gotten married in the same circumstances and the same manner that Remus and Dora Lupin had done some twenty years previously, she would probably have wanted a second shot at the whole wedding thing too.

Because there was absolutely no chance that Peter would understand the perils and difficulties of getting married during the middle of a war he probably didn't realise had even happened, whilst being on the run from the authorities of a government that he had never heard of, and getting married with little if no ceremony at all because your marriage was in actual fact an illegal one under a set of laws that as far as he was concerned hadn't even existed.

Besides, Peter wasn't allowed to know any of that, whether he would believe it or not. Indeed, there were a whole lot of things about Carrie's boyfriend Teddy's family, friends and general existence that she was obliged to keep secret.

Because the Lupins were magical.

Not magical as glittery costumes and top hats sort of magical, nor magical as in inhuman super heroes, the action figures of which Carrie's older brother's had collected when they had been teenagers. No, the Lupins were magical as in real, proper magic.

Yes, Carrie was dating a boy whose family consisted of a couple of wizards and a witch. Two shape-shifters and a werewolf, to be even more precise.

Carrie had first met the Lupins many summers previously, just prior to her eleventh birthday when she and her family had moved into the house next door to them, and it had not taken Carrie long to realise that there was something unusual about her new neighbours. She and Teddy had soon become firm friends and every summer since Carrie had spent more time at the Lupins' house than she had done her own. She had revelled in the magical little world that she was privy to for many years until one summer when she and Teddy had been seventeen, when Carrie's life had been turned upside down in more ways than one.

For one thing, she had become Teddy's girlfriend. That had been a development that Carrie hadn't really seen coming, despite growing suspicions that she wouldn't be entirely happy with life until she and her best friend became an item.

She hadn't seen her parents having their memories wiped and being landed in the magical hospital St. Mungo's, either. Indeed, that had been possibly the most shocking and downright tragic occurrence of Carrie's life thus far. Since then her older twin brothers Thomas and Timothy had gone to live with their cousins in the neighbouring town of Moorbrook, whilst Carrie had moved in with their Aunt Susan who lived in a small flat in a tower block, the other side of town from the Lupins' house. Carrie would have preferred to have gone with her brothers to Moorbrook, but the rest of the family, who were under the impression that Carrie's parents had suffered irreversible brain damage after a terrible car crash, had decided it better she stay in Eddington so that she might complete her A Levels at the nearby Goodwin College.

She'd asked Dora if she might just move in with Teddy's family instead, but the witch had regrettably told her that they didn't have the space. Teddy had offered to sleep on the sofa so that Carrie could have his bedroom, but Dora had told him not to be daft.

Carrie hadn't really thought this a daft idea, but Dora had disappeared off to work before they could argue with her any further and when they had posed the question to Remus instead he had told Teddy to ask his mother.

_Don't be a wuss, Dad!_ Teddy had demanded when the werewolf had disappeared behind the refuge of his morning newspaper. _Tell Mum Carrie can stay with us!_

But Remus had simply laughed and told Teddy that he had a lot to learn about how marriages work. He'd then consented to echoing Dora's excuse: there simply wasn't room.

And so Carrie had gone to live with her Aunt Susan for a year before heading off to study History at University, returning to her aunt's during the holidays and to the full comfort of her secret magical little world.

It was a good thing, Carrie mused as she stared down at the dresses upon the bed with a frown, that she was so well practiced at keeping secrets, because it just so happened that the true nature of today's grand occasion was exactly that: a secret.

Dora had absolutely no idea that she would be renewing her wedding vows in just a hour's time. As far as she knew, her husband had arranged a "little anniversary party", much the same as the one he had thrown the year beforehand. Carrie was very much looking forward to seeing the look upon the witch's face when she found out the truth, when she saw the explosion of flowers and the marquee and the archway and...!

Carrie positively beamed at the very thought. It was going to be brilliant, fantastic, just wonderful!

When she'd expressed to Teddy just how amazing and romantic the whole thing was when he'd picked her up from her aunt's that morning, he had rolled his eyes and told her not to be such a girl. But Carrie hadn't taken much notice of him, since Remus had unexpectedly dragged his son out of bed at half past five that morning to start conjuring flowers, which had left Teddy indigent to say the least.

_He came out to check on me at eight, once he'd bundled Mum into the floo to Grandma Molly's, took one look at all the flowers all over the garden...and d'you know what he said?_ Teddy had ranted as he had led Carrie by the hand down the stairs towards the tower block entrance. _He said: They're not big enough! NOT BIG ENOUGH!_

Carrie had expressed her disappointment that evidently Teddy had not inherited his father's zest for disproportionately huge romantic gestures, to which Teddy had looked mildly offended before pointing out that unlike Dora, Carrie was by no means comfortable with being the centre of attention and therefore if her accusations were true she should probably thank her lucky stars.

When it came to Teddy and his family, Carrie certainly did count her lucky stars, and as she stood scowling down at the dresses upon the bed she began to suspect that it was due to this fact precisely that she had developed the sudden urge to be picky about her attire.

Carrie Winters wanted to be perfect.

She wanted to fit in seamlessly with everybody else at the party, not stick out as The Muggle Girl. She didn't want to be in any way shape or form an embarrassment to Teddy or the rest of the family.

And it was this realisation that at long last solved her wardrobe dilemma.

Because as stunning a dress as the one she was currently eying was, bright red silk and the occasional glittery bead or two was hardly likely to aid her in her mission to blend in with the crowd. Indeed, she was pretty sure everybody would see her a mile off.

Mind made up, she reached instead for the other option; a mottled handkerchief dress of earthy browns and greens that she had last worn the previous summer to a family wedding that had been a far more dull occasion than today's, and set about getting changed.

She had just finished attacking her carefully arranged chestnut locks with a can of hairspray when it suddenly occurred to her that she had forgotten to pack the necklace and earrings that she had carefully selected the evening beforehand.

"Bugger..." she muttered, looking rather wildly around Teddy's bedroom as if they might magically materialise before her eyes...

Sadly for Carrie, there were many random acts of magic that she had witnessed over the years in the Lupin household, but the appearance of missing jewellery out of thin air was not one of them.

The muggle pursed her lips together in irritation and, glancing over at the clock upon Teddy's bedside table and noting that she was fast running out of time, decided to take drastic measures.

She hastily made for the bedroom door, flinging it open and with the briefest glance down the staircase towards the hallway to ensure nobody was looking, she dashed along the landing and reached to throw open the door to the master bedroom, stumbling across the threshold in a manner that was nothing like the covert fashion she had been hoping for. Nevertheless she hastily turned to push the door carefully closed, only to freeze at the sound of a voice behind her.

"You might try knocking next time, Carrie. My heart's not getting any younger, after all."

Carrie felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment and for a moment she remained staring at the door as she mumbled:

"Sorry...didn't mean to make you jump."

Not that Remus Lupin had jumped, the muggle mused as she finally consented to shuffling round to face the man in question, because of course such a thing was entirely unheard of. There was not, as far as Carrie was concerned, a man who was calmer or less easily startled than Teddy's father, indeed had she managed to wrench the door off its hinges and hurl it across the room it was entirely likely that the werewolf would not so much as flinch.

And, judging from the raised eyebrow that she found herself offered when he turned his back upon the window he was staring out of, Remus knew this fact about himself all too well.

She should probably reframe from reminding him on a daily basis just how an impressive a trait she felt this was, Carrie mused as she offered him a rather abashed smile, because as Dora had reminded her only yesterday, such comments only made him _even more of a smug git than usua_l.

"Were you after something?" Remus asked, gaze back upon the pocket watch he was midway through winding, and Carrie sucked in a deep, considering breath before concluding that she might simply just admit to her intended crime.

"Um...Dora's...Dora's jewellery box...?" she mumbled hopefully, and felt quite relieved and yet, when she took a second to think about it, not at all surprised when he simply pointed vaguely over towards Dora's bedside table and informed her:

"Second drawer down. Take what you want."

As she hurried over to pull open the door in question, triumphant at the sight of the large wooden box within, she shot a bright smile over her shoulder and asked:

"Are you nervous?"

"Should I be?" Remus wondered, eyebrow creeping up towards his hairline again as he slipped the carefully polished watch into his pocket, and as she reached to push the lid of the jewellery box open Carrie told him:

"Maybe...most people are, aren't they? When they get married."

The werewolf turned his attention back to the window again, gazing down at the gathering crowd upon his driveway with an amused smirk.

"Perhaps...but then again if she doesn't say _I do_ this time it doesn't really matter, she's already stuck with me."

"Good thing she will though, isn't it?" Carrie pointed out as she reached to push aside a few bangles to squint at a rather elaborate golden necklace hidden underneath. "Because if she didn't married life might get terribly awkward." As he gave a chuckle of amusement she reached to extract the necklace from the box, holding it up to the light for closer inspection. "Were you nervous first time around?" she asked, marvelling at the light dancing upon the gold, making it glitter grandly.

"Utterly terrified." Remus confirmed, drumming his fingers absently against the window frame. "Single most frightening experience of my whole life..."

"Worse than the Battle of Hogwarts?"

"Merlin, yes...you have no idea..." he trailed off with a snigger at himself, turning back around to face her, only for a muffled voice to shout his name from somewhere downstairs.

"It sounds like utter chaos down there." Carrie observed, replacing one necklace in favour of a golden choker adorned with dangling emerald coloured beads, and as he hurried towards the door Remus paused to shove a hand into his pocket, pulling out an envelope and leaning to set it down upon Dora's pillow.

"I like to think of it more as organised chaos." he told the muggle, and then he frowned a little as he added: "Or at least I hope for my sake that's what it is..." and with that, casting one last smile over his shoulder at his son's girlfriend, the werewolf hurried out of the room and down the stairs. As Carrie listened to the sound of his fading footfalls, Carrie reached to slip the choker around her neck, fiddling with the clasp for a long moment and as she did so her eyes came to rest upon the envelope upon Dora's pillow.

She instantly began to fight the urge to reach forward and pick it up.

Carrie Winters had known ever since she was a very small child that it was rude to be nosy, however she seemed to have developed an uncanny ability to overlook or entirely forget this fact when it came to the Lupins. Originally she had put this down to her thirst to know about magic, then to the idea that, despite being relatively private people, they really didn't seem to mind her probing...

And Remus had left the envelope open...

Carrie couldn't quite help herself.

Glancing over at the bedroom door to ensure she was entirely alone, the muggle reached to pluck the envelope from the pillow, sliding the small piece of parchment out from within. She recognised Remus' carefully formed script at first glance, printed in bright scarlet ink.

_Attempt 2 at a Honeymoon,_

_After Attempt 2 at a Wedding._

_2 weeks away together,_

_At the place where the 2 of us_

_Undertook our 2nd joint Order mission, _

_Which lasted 2 days,_

_In which we spotted 2 of every animal,_

_Except the 2 we were looking for._

_You tripped 2 times over the same tree root, _

_In the space of about 2 minutes._

_You told me at least 22 times not to call you Nymphadora._

_It was 2 days after full moon,_

_And probably barely 2 degrees outside._

_I went to sleep having given you our only 2 blankets,_

_And woke up to find you had given me 2 blankets back._

_And by the time our 2 days were up,_

_I'd attempted to tell myself at least 200 times,_

_That I hadn't fallen for a girl I'd barely known for 2 weeks._

_It took you the best part of 2 years to make me see sense._

_And though you'll tell me I'm being at least 2 hundred times more soppy than you can stand,_

_I must confess that since then I can't stand to think of the 2 of us being apart,_

_Not even for a moment or 2._

_So let's get away for 2 weeks. _

_Because you deserve as much after 2 lots of ten years being married to me._

_Just the 2 of us._

Scrawled across the bottom corner, seemingly an after thought, Carrie read: _And Ted obviously, but we can leave him with Edwin and the others, call it Work Experience. _

Carrie was just wondering who Edwin and the Others were when she heard Teddy's voice shouting up the stairs.

"CARRIE? QUICK, THEY'RE ON THEIR WAY!"

The muggle scrambled to her feet and hurriedly replaced the note in the envelope.

"I'M COMING!" she called, dropping the envelope back upon the pillow, and with that she hurried downstairs.

She found Teddy waiting at the bottom of the stairs for her, his earlier mood apparently lost for as she picked her way carefully down the steps he was grinning broadly.

"You look like a nymph." he announced as she reached the bottom, and when he reached to take hold of her by the hand, the muggle sniggered.

"I suppose nymphs are real then, are they?" she said, and as he leant to brush a kiss to her knuckles the young wizard rolled his eyes at her.

"Obviously. Where did you think Mum's name came from?"

As they set off down the hallway towards the kitchen, Carrie gave his hand a firm squeeze.

"I shouldn't bring that up right now, Ted. If we don't hurry up she might be within earshot...and firing range!"

They hurried through the kitchen and out of the back door into the garden, and almost as soon as she had stepped out onto the patio, Carrie came to a slightly stunned halt.

The garden was bordering on unrecognisable. Carrie had never seen so many flowers in her whole entire life. They were draped across the garden fence, sprouting in enormous clumps upon the lawn, bursting from bushes and climbing their way up and around an archway in the middle of the garden, a great collage of vibrant colours, every dazzling shade of the rainbow.

"Wow..." Carrie breathed, eyes widening at the sight as a flood of guests set about taking their seats upon a long set of benches that had been set down upon the grass.

Apparently Teddy was once again unimpressed.

"Five bloody thirty...!" he muttered, only for somebody in the back doorway behind them to let out a low whistle and announce loudly:

"Sweet Merlin, would you look at that!"

Positively beaming to find somebody who shared her awe, Carrie turned to face to speaker, a tall olive skinned woman dressed in scarlet Auror robes.

"It's wonderful, don't you think?" the muggle exclaimed, causing Teddy to look exasperated, only to swell with sudden pride when she added: "Teddy did it almost all himself!"

"Nice work, Ted!" the Auror praised, and the young wizard brightened again as he said:

"Thanks, Jasmine..." Eying his mother's work colleague's attire he asked: "On a lunch break, are you?"

Gesturing to the man stood just behind her, who was also wearing the uniform of the Auror Department, Jasmine grinned mischievously.

"Isaac and I are doing a bunk!" she announced, sounding immensely pleased with herself. "Boss won't notice..."

"_Boss_, as you so rightly name him, is staring at us." Isaac mumbled rather apprehensively under his breath, and Jasmine glanced over Carrie's shoulder searchingly before observing:

"So he is!" Raising a defeated hand in the air, she waved enthusiastically at Head of Aurors Harry Potter, who had paused in his conversation with Ron Weasley to frown at his two rogue charges, and stood just to their left was..."Sod it! It's Minister Shacklebolt! Just...just smile and wave, Isaac love...smile and wave..."

"Didn't Robert sneak over here too?" Isaac asked as he obediently raised a hand to wave, and Jasmine winced as she muttered:

"Yes..."

"So...Harry's here, Ron's here, Robert's here, we're here, Tonks is going to be here, and everybody else is out on raids or at lunch...?"

"Yes..."

"Who's manning the office then?" Isaac wondered worriedly, only for his girlfriend to snap cheerfully:

"Shut up, Isaac! Let's sit over here in the shade..."

Carrie shuffled aside to let the two Aurors squeeze past her, and as she watched them take their seats, notably those that were the absolute furthest away from Harry and the Minister that they could possibly be, Teddy sniggered.

"Unbelievable." he muttered, only for a blur of dark hair and rumpled shirt to streak out of the kitchen, coming to an abrupt halt just in front of them.

"EVERYBODY BE QUIET!" ten year old James Potter bellowed to the garden at large. "AUNTIE DORA'S COMING!"

As instant silence descended over the garden, disturbed by the odd excited murmur from the younger guests, Teddy reached to grab James by the elbow and set about marching him up the make-shift aisle towards their seats.

"Shout that loud and she's probably heard you!" the metamorphmagus chuckled, and he had barely deposited James in a chair beside his sister Lily and hurried with Carrie to their seats at the front before everybody heard movement back in the doorway. The entire crowd turned eagerly to look over their shoulders.

"Mind the step..."

"This is mad, I mean come on love...me in heels and a bloody blindfold! I..."

"Careful!"

Carrie had to grit her teeth against a giggle as she watched the guest of honour trip her way non-too gracefully out onto the patio, saved from a tumble by her husband throwing a well practiced arm about her middle.

"Sweet Merlin...put me out of my misery, Remus, I can't take it anymore!" Dora cried, shaking with barely suppressed laughter, and behind the pair Molly and Arthur Weasley slipped past and hurried down the aisle towards their seats.

"You have to wait...a couple of seconds..." Remus murmured, chin coming to rest atop her head, which was today adorned with quite possibly the brightest pink hair that Carrie had ever seen, and the witch shuffled rather impatiently.

"Just...one more second..." the werewolf decided, and no sooner had Molly dropped down into her seat he concluded: "There...ready!" And yet he failed to reach for the blindfold just yet. Instead he took a long moment to gaze around at the garden, at the beaming faces and the flowers, as if to check everything was exactly as it should be...

"Ready?" Dora echoed, and with that a broad grin broke out across Remus face and he reached to pull the blindfold from her eyes.

The crowd let out a wildly enthusiastic cheer.

Dora blinked. And then blinked again. She reached to put a hand to her mouth as she took in the noisy scene before her, slumping back against the wizard stood behind her with a suitably stunned chuckle.

"Oh I should have known!" she laughed when the cheering finally died down. "You've been threatening to do this for at least twenty years..."

"It was never a threat, it was a guarantee." Remus corrected, and she promptly turned to throw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"All those flowers worth it yet, Teddy?" Carrie whispered after a moment into Teddy's ear, and as he watched his parents turn and begin to make their way arm in arm up the aisle, the youngest Lupin gave rather defeated sigh, before grinning broadly.

The ceremony itself took very little time at all, yet for that short period of time Carrie found herself utterly fixated by the bindings of glowing light that had materialised around the couple's entwined hands with a wave of the Ministry official's wand. She didn't catch much of what was said, for she was much too busy gazing in wonder at the scene. How wonderful it was, the muggle mused, to be truly bound together by the magical bindings marriage and not by the mere ceremony of exchanging rings. By the time it was all over and she was brought back to reality by the crowd's whooping and clapping at the couple's kiss, Carrie was feeling altogether rather girly and foolish.

Which was precisely the reason she went on to embarrass herself so terribly just a short while later when the party had began. Looking back on the incident, Carrie supposed the main reason she hadn't seen the whole cringe-worthy incident coming was because she had been concentrating too hard on not embarrassing herself in front of the wrong people.

Indeed, come the evening she rather wished she hadn't been so worried about the Lupins' guests and had instead been a little more mindful of the Lupins themselves.

"Do you know," Carrie asked Teddy as the two of them sat down upon the bench that had been placed in the shade of the large tree that stood at the end of the garden, having both just fetched themselves a cool glass of lemonade, "where it was that your parents went on their second Order mission together?"

"The Six Sisters' Vale." Teddy recalled knowingly. "They were attempting to track down the Carrows or something."

"Six Sisters? Why would it be called that?"

"It's named after the six sisters who lived there, they were all magizoologists, some of the oldest on record, and they lived in the valley and studied all the wildlife there. It should be a hotspot for tourists, what with all the magical creatures and the scenery, only the people who live and work there now – descendants of the original six they say – they aren't too keen on visitors."

"Have you ever been there?" Carrie asked, enchanted at the mere thought of such an idyllic place so crammed full of magical creatures, but Teddy shook his head.

"No...Dad's been there quite a few times, the locals all know him because he used to go there to collect animals for his classes when he was teaching. That's probably why Dumbledore sent him on the mission, come to think of it."

Carrie took a sip of her lemonade, gaze wandering over to where the lawn had seemingly been transformed into a make-shift dance floor, music drifting out from a record player that had been set down upon the patio table.

"It sounds wonderful." the muggle murmured, shifting until she could rest her head against Teddy's shoulder. "I would give anything to visit a place like that..."

The party stretched right through the afternoon and on into the evening, and by the time the light had started to fade and the guests began to think of going home or at least migrating into the sitting room, Carrie had eaten and danced so much that she thought she might very well drop. She had barely spoken to Remus or Dora all day, they seemed to be far too busy being whisked off to the drinks table or engrossed in cheery banter to offer her much more than the odd smile. Before Carrie could quite recall where the hours had gone, the remaining guests had crammed themselves into the sitting room and Dora had announced to the room at large that, since she had contributed absolutely nothing to the planning of the day, she ought probably take one for the team and give the obligatory speech instead.

"I always knew I'd be standing here some day," she said, glass of champagne in one hand and Remus' hand in the other. "With Remus, and all of you, celebrating the fact that we've been married for far too long not to make me feel old. And I've known for even longer that I couldn't possibly have ended up with anybody else in the whole world..." she paused to offer Bill and Fleur Weasley a wink before adding: "Except for Bill, obviously, but Fleur got there first..." She took a generous gulp of champagne as everybody laughed in such a raucous manner that it was all too obvious that the champagne and wine had been flowing for much too long. "No, but seriously," the Deputy Head of Aurors turned to beam up at her husband as she admitted: "I've had such a wonderful day, it's been absolutely perfect and I could go on and on about how much I've enjoyed it, or how I feel like I'm the luckiest witch alive...except I won't because some merry soul keeps refilling my glass and I think I must be far too drunk for this sort of thing..." And with that she trailed off with a unusually high pitched giggle and leant to bury her face in Remus' shoulder.

"On that note," Ron Weasley announced as he rose to his feet, reaching to offer a hand to his wife as she too got up from the sofa. "Some of us have work in the morning, so..." He cast a rather worried glance to his right to find Isaac sat upon the sofa, Jasmine sprawled across his lap, seemingly snoring softly.

"She'll be there." Isaac insisted, face reddening a little, but Ron merely gave a snort of disbelief, only for Hermione to give him a tug towards the door, pausing to murmur cheery goodbyes and thanks to their hosts before going off in search of their children.

Once the guests had begun to leave, Carrie and Teddy set about helping those who remained clearing up the garden, and yet Carrie found her mind was somewhere else entirely.

The Lupins' upcoming trip to the Six Sisters' Vale.

She desperately wanted to go with them, more than anything in the world. Indeed the desire was so strong that she had quite forgotten that she wasn't supposed to know about it in the first place.

Remus and Dora had never taken Carrie on holiday before, indeed they very rarely went on holiday themselves because as Deputy Head of the Auror Department Dora had very little time off, the majority of which was taken up by the days following the full moon because Remus had a habit of being terribly weak and sickly after his monthly transformations.

Carrie had spent several hours attempting to remind herself that this latest trip was by no means a normal family holiday, indeed it was a second honeymoon (not that they had ever had a first,) and consequently it would be more than a little cheeky to attempt to invite herself along...

It wasn't as though she would be any trouble, though. She didn't need babysitting, they could go off and do their own thing and she and Teddy could go off and do theirs. Remus and Dora need barely even notice that Carrie was there at all...

And they were always saying that Carrie was as good as one of the family anyway...

Carrie abandoned the tray of glasses that she was carrying beside the kitchen sink and turned to glance sideways at Remus as he set the increasingly huge mound of washing up to begin scrubbing itself clean...

The muggle chewed thoughtfully upon her lip for a moment before venturing:

"Remus...?"

"Carrie?" The wizard glanced sideways at her as he reached to pocket his wand, and for a moment Carrie simply studied him, reaching to bite a nail.

She wondered if he were even half as inebriated as his wife had admitted to being back in the sitting room. Looking at him she suspected not, but hoped he was perhaps at least a little merry because it could be beneficial to her cause.

"I...I was thinking..." she began hopefully. "If...well...maybe..." She trailed off at the raised eyebrow she was offered and instead drew in a deep breath and babbled: "I-was-hoping-that-well-since-I'm-like-well-like-one-of-you-guys-I-could-maybe-if-you-didn't-mind-that-is-take-me-with-you-when-you-all-go-on-holiday-for-two-weeks!"

There was a long, slightly stunned pause and Carrie felt her cheeks burn scarlet in embarrassment. She was about to mumble an apology and attempt to repeat herself because clearly she had been utterly unintelligible, but then the werewolf asked in a whisper:

"How do you know about the holiday?"

Carrie opened her mouth to utter the immortal words: _I read your letter_...

Only to promptly close it again.

_Because of course you aren't supposed to read people's private letters, let alone the sort of letters husbands leave their wives upon their pillows and..._

_Oh Merlin..._

_What did I say that for?_

_He's going to hate me..._

She watched, utterly mortified as Remus' eye widened in apparent realisation and she very nearly flinched when he drew breath to speak again...

"Remus!" Dora's voice called from back out in the garden, and the werewolf swallowed a lump that had formed his throat.

"We'll...talk later." he said, staring for another horrified moment, and then he turned and fled out through the back door.

Carrie couldn't quite believe how stupid she had been, how she had managed to open her big mouth...

Utterly furious with herself, she made a run for the stairs and went to hide in Teddy's bedroom, locking the door firmly behind her. Flopping down onto the bed and kicking off her shoes, she gazed forlornly up at the ceiling, heaving a heavy sigh.

"You're so stupid!" she complained aloud. "You shouldn't have gone snooping around in the first place...who does that, anyway?"

You do, she thought miserably to herself. And you won't grow out of it, either. Not like everybody else.

Carrie had for some years managed to curb her desire to stick her nose into every corner of the Lupins' lives, having concluded that really she was old enough to know better. But ever since a particularly troubling incident during a previous summer, she had reverted to her probing ways.

After all, one did not knock upon their neighbours door one day to discover that they, along with the contents of their house, had seemingly disappeared into thin air without a single word of warning, leaving you both startled and horrified, not to mention miserable for the following month before they reappeared in your life as quickly as they had gone, bringing all manner of danger and chaos along with them.

No indeed, Carrie liked to keep an eye on all future goings on, two eyes if she could manage it, because the thought of such a thing happening again without warning was simply unbearable to comprehend.

She had to know absolutely everything. Life felt more stable that way...

But of course this was just silly. Utterly stupid. Unreasonably paranoid...

She'd be attempting to intercept their owls next! And Remus' face...

She was going to have to apologise, of course. That wasn't a conversation that Carrie was looking forward to in the slightest, in fact the thought of it made her cringe and she reached to bury her face in her hands.

The vague, muffled sounds of people moving around downstairs began to fade and through the gaps between her fingers Carrie watched the light continue to seep away from the sky outside until a loud shriek of laughter from the garden drew her attention and she rolled over onto her stomach, reaching to push herself up and off the bed.

"Try again! Try again!"

Carrie shuffled over to peer out of the window, down into the garden where she spotted Remus and Dora stood upon grass, arms tangled tightly around one another as the witch smothered near hysterical laughter into the werewolf's chest.

"Go on, just once!" the metamorphmagus pleaded, rising up upon tip toes and his face contorted in protest.

"Can't I use magic?" Carrie heard him ask, leaning back a little in a vain attempt to escape her lips upon his jaw, only for Dora to jerk backwards, expression utterly outraged.

"Absolutely not! It's not the same!" she cried, causing his face to contort indignantly.

"But I'm not the same either! I'm too old..."

"I seem to remember you being too old twenty years ago too."

"Mm..."

"Well then, you're not too old now are you? You're bloody ancient!" At this jibe, the witch found the arms yanked from around her so that he could fold his arms firmly across his chest. She immediately began to try and tug his hands free.

"You're incredibly mean to me when you're drunk." he pointed out, fighting against a grin, and his wife gave up on trying to unfold his arms, choosing to fold her own instead, complaining:

"And you're incredibly mean to me when you're sober! Stop trying to ruin my fun!"

Remus merely laughed, reaching to run a tired hand through his hair. For a long moment, they simply stared at one another rather challengingly before he let out a resigned sigh and held his arms out to her.

Carrie watched, smiling to herself as Dora reached to throw her arms around him, and, after a deep breath that was very nearly audible to the muggle at the window, Remus wrapped his arms tightly about her waist and with some difficulty lifted her up off her feet, eliciting a small squeak of triumph from the witch. As she watched him shuffle the two of them across the grass in a poor imitation of a dance to the crackling ballad that had been left to play upon the record player, it occurred to Carrie that she was once again spying and yet she had done so without even realising it.

The couple came to a stumbling halt upon the patio, his forehead dropping to her shoulder with an mixture of laughter and exasperation and Dora leant to press a kiss to his temple, patting him comfortingly upon the back.

"That wasn't too bad, was it?" the witch reasoned, only to dissolve into laughter when he straightened up to stare at her with wide eyes. She leant to smother her amusement against his lips, reaching to drape her arms around his neck again with a heavy sigh.

"Take me to bed." she groaned, shoulders slumped. "I need to go to sleep, I'm much too drunk."

"Thank Merlin..." the werewolf murmured, and with that he glanced over towards the house and shouted: "TED? TAKE CARRIE HOME, IT'S GETTING LATE!"

As they set about stumbling towards the door, a mass of tangled arms and hands, Dora's head came to rest against her husband's shoulder as she decided thoughtfully:

"Definitely need to sleep...we'll have to do the whole second wedding night thing another night instead..."

"You think?" Remus murmured, voice the model of seriousness though he looked rather as though he wanted to start laughing again.

"Yes." Dora confirmed, giving her head a firm nod, apparently taking the whole conversation perfectly seriously indeed. "Because I'm not going to remember a thing come tomorrow morning...no point doing it now if I won't remember it!"

"That's remarkably sober logic, Mrs. Lupin."

"It is rather isn't it? I... oh bugger!"

"Mind the step, Sweetheart."

"Thanks love...try pointing it out a few seconds earlier ne..."

"Mind that chair!"

CRASH!


	2. Trust, Dust and Dares You Must

_Note: Hmm...this chapter has turned out a bit on the short side! Sorry about that, but it seemed like a nice place to end! I hope you all enjoy it anyway! :-)_

_Thank you to my kind reviewers, it was lovely to hear from you all! I'm glad that you are enjoying this new story!_

_It seems unlikely that I will be able to update again before I go away on holiday on Monday, but I shall endeavour to post soon after I return!_

_The Alternative name for this chapter, as proposed by Sam, is: "Remus and the unfortunate incident with the Dust Bunny."_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**2: Trust, Dust and Dares You Must**

It was not until the following afternoon that Carrie, having spent most of the night and morning moping around in her bedroom feeling wretched, finally decided to do the right thing and go and apologise to Remus for her snooping. The walk across town from her aunt's flat seemed to take far longer than usual, she dragged her feet upon the pavement and allowed herself to get distracted by shop windows as she passed, which she supposed was proof of her reluctance because really there were very few shops of interest in Eddington, it was as places went a rather boring town, far more uninteresting than the city that Carrie would visit just up the road from her University. Indeed, if the Lupins hadn't happened to have been in Eddington, Carrie might very well have chosen not to stay there at all.

This thought only made Carrie feel worse than ever because it reminded her that during the holidays when she was back from University, the Lupins truly were her world, she seemed unable to help but gravitate towards them until her life revolved around visiting them, going places with Teddy and spending every spare moment she could revelling in the magical world.

And yet despite their importance, she still managed to stir up trouble.

When she finally reached the house, she did not allow herself to hesitate when knocking at the door for fear that she might lose her nerve. When there was not an immediate response she leant forward until her lips were practically pressed against the woodwork and announced:

"It's me. It's Carrie."

And with that, she heard a lock click and the door swung open of it's own accord. Smiling a little to herself at this enchantment that had been in place for over a year now, she stepped over the threshold and reached to close the door carefully behind her.

"Hello...?" she called, kicking off her shoes and wandering further into the house, and she was just about to peer into the sitting room when a voice from the study called:

"Stick the kettle on, Carrie love!"

Obediently, Carrie shuffled down the hallway and into the deserted kitchen. As she filled the kettle with water, she wondered what Dora was doing at home and where Remus and Teddy were. They certainly didn't appear to be home, judging from how eerily quiet the house was. At this conclusion she selected just a couple of mugs and set about splashing milk into the bottom of them. She wondered if Remus had told Dora all about what had happened and if he had whether or not she owed Dora an apology too. The muggle sighed heavily and set about dropping a couple of teabags into the teapot, just in time for the kettle to begin whistling shrilly.

_I suppose_, she thought dully as she finished making the tea, _I'm just going to have to come out with it, admit everything and apologise..._

And so it was that Carrie marched into the study, cups of tea in hand, and announced to the witch sat behind the paper-strewn desk:

"I've done something stupid."

And without so much as a glance up from the parchment that she was busy scribbling notes upon, a small frown of concentration upon her brow, Dora Lupin agreed:

"Yes, Carrie. You have."

Carrie stood for a moment, chewing her lip rather apprehensively before letting out a determined breath, reaching to set Dora's tea down upon the desk in front of her.

"It was an accident..." she began to explain, gripping hold of her own cup and struggling not to babble, only for Dora to reach to dip her quill into a pot of ink and tell her:

"It was anything but an accident, Carrie. Letters don't just read themselves you know..." she paused, quill hovering over the parchment and frown deepening thoughtfully as she mused: "Except for Howlers, I suppose..."

"What I_ meant_," Carrie protested, voice raised a little because she was rather worried the witch wasn't listening quite as intently as she ought be, "was that I didn't mean any harm! I just...well..."

"Are there any biscuits out there?" Dora interrupted, finishing scrawling an elaborate and loopy signature at the bottom of the page and finally consenting to look up at her visitor, and Carrie was forced to bite her tongue against a huff or irritation.

She wasn't usually this irritable, she realised as she turned and shuffled back into the kitchen in search of biscuits. She was simply feeling terribly guilty and all together rather nervous...

Because after all, one glance at the mounds of papers upon the desk told the muggle that Dora had chosen to spend the afternoon doing paperwork at home.

And it was a well known fact that doing paperwork was one of Dora Lupin's most hated tasks. Left to drown under the weight of parchment and ink for too long, the Deputy Head of Aurors had a habit of losing her sense of humour.

Which, Carrie thought, was a mighty shame because she could do with a bit of good humour round about now.

She managed to locate a few stray chocolate digestives at the bottom of the biscuit barrel by the bread bin and for a moment simply stood in the kitchen, staring down at the meagre offering and taking a few deep breaths. She decided to pretend that she hadn't managed to make such a mess of her first attempt to explain herself and returned to the study with the biscuit barrel, ready to start again.

"There's only a couple of chocolate digestives." she announced as she set the barrel down upon the table, and Dora puffed her cheeks in exasperation as she closed the pale blue paper file that she had been examining, muttering:

"Well they'll have to do, won't they?"

Carrie was just thinking to herself that really this seemed to be a far more promising start to the conversation when the witch settled back in her chair, legs spread out under the desk in front of her before observing:

"I reckon we should have a chat, you and me."

Carrie pretended to find the steam rising from her mug of tea utterly fascinating.

"Um..." she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Where're Ted and Remus?"

Dora busied herself with selecting a biscuit for a long moment, before taking a generous bite and informing the muggle through a mouthful of crumbs:

"Ted's gone to watch Quidditch with his mate Josh, and Remus..._is out_."

Carrie flinched.  
>"Alright, I get it..." she mumbled, colour rising on her cheeks. "Don't be nosy. It's none of my business where Remus is..."<p>

Dora shrugged, reaching to dust crumbs from her jeans.

"Actually," she admitted. "I say Remus is out because quite frankly I don't know where he went. He left about two hours ago and didn't bother to say where he was going. He tends to stay out of my way if I'm doing paperwork."

"Oh..." Carrie felt more embarrassed than ever and as Dora reached to shove the remainder of the biscuit unceremoniously into her mouth, the muggle reached to fiddle nervously with the hem of her t shirt.

"But you make a fair point." Dora said a moment later once she had finished her mouthful. "It might well be none of your business." she sat, scrutinizing the muggle for a long moment. Carrie failed to resist the urge to squirm, and she was quite relieved when the witch added: "But then again you don't do any harm by just asking now, do you?"

There was a long silence as Carrie attempted to decide whether or not this was a rhetorical question. She found it rather difficult to decide, and at long last concluded that she would at least pretend that it was because she couldn't seem to find her voice to reply.

"Ask us, Carrie love!" Dora exclaimed at last, leaning forward until she could rest her elbows upon the table. "Talk to us for Merlin's sake! Ask us questions! If you want to know what's inside a bloody envelope in our bedroom, just come out and ask!"

"But...if it's none of my business..."

"Then we'll tell you! You can ask us anything you like, we don't give a toss! Just as long as you give us the chance to choose not to give you an answer!" The Auror reached to rake a rather frustrated hand through her hair, which was today a mass of short strands of midnight blue. Sighing heavily she admitted: "Let's be honest, Carrie love. This is getting..." she trailed off, apparently struggling to identify an appropriate word. Carrie supposed it was indeed tricky to find vocabulary suitably damning and yet not too hurtful. The muggle's gaze dropped to her shoes and she found herself feeling suddenly quite tearful.

"I...I can't help it..." she found herself mumbling. "I...I know it's wrong of me, I know that but I...sometimes I can't help it...it's like...like I have to...I have to know..."

Dora let out a strained huff of disbelief.

"Don't be daft, Carrie love. You don't need to know what Remus has planned for our anniversary or...or how much gold we have left in our vault at the end of each month..."

Carrie's eyes grew wide in horror and she immediately looked up.

"I...I have _never_ read anything you've been sent from Gringott's! Never! I wouldn't!"

Dora merely waved a dismissive hand at the muggle's little outburst.

"Of course you haven't." she said, halting Carrie's horror as swiftly as it had come, only to renew it afresh when she explained: "That was just an example. Obviously there are...other things."

Carrie reached to fiddle with a loose strand of her hair, twirling it around her index finger as she dreaded to think what these other things were, what precisely Remus and Dora thought she had been up to...

Dora appeared to be entirely unaware or perhaps simply unconcerned by the muggle's troubled thoughts, for she continued:

"As I was saying, you don't need to know everything, Carrie. If it's important you know something, obviously we'd tell you..."

"Would you?" Almost as soon as the two words had left her mouth, Carrie winced at how challenging they sounded. Dora's brow creased a little in bemusement.

"Of course we would, love." she said, reaching for her tea. She took a sip, smiling assuringly as she told the muggle: "We don't do unnecessary secrets in this house. You know that."

"Yes but sometimes you don't have the same definition of unnecessary that I do!" Carrie complained, and to her frustration the witch merely chuckled. As a knock upon the front door drew her attention and she rose from her chair, the Auror offered the muggle a raised eyebrow.

"That doesn't matter, Carrie." she announced with a knowing smile as she stepped out from behind the desk and headed for the hallway. "All you have to remember is that our copy of the dictionary is far more accurate than yours."

Carrie let out a heavy sigh, biting her lip in frustration as she listened to the witch's footsteps heading up the hallway. She heard the door being pulled open and was instantly distracted from her misery by Dora's exclamation of:

"What the bloody hell are you doing with all of this junk?"

"_Junk_?" Remus' voice echoed, sounding utterly outraged. "What sort of Auror _are you_? Here, grab this..." he instructed, and Carrie shuffled to peer out down the hallway just in time to see the werewolf deposit a large wooden box into his wife's arms. As Dora stumbled backwards a little under the sudden weight, an enormous metal trunk seemingly covered on all sides by padlocks and chains came hovering through the front door, coming to rest at the bottom of the stairs with a loud thud.

"Where's Carrie?" Remus asked, pocketing his wand and shrugging the cloak from his shoulders, and as she dumped the box she was holding down upon the floor beside the trunk, Dora muttered:

"Never mind Carrie! What've you gone and dragged all of this rubbish out of the vault for?"

"It's not all rubbish, you know. Some of it's very useful." the werewolf insisted as he turned to hang his cloak up beside the door, pausing to gesture with a foot to the muggle's discarded shoes. "Where's Carrie?"

"We can't have all of this just lying around in the house, Remus! You know we can't, you know what it's like! It's..._annoying_!"

Quite foolishly, Carrie thought judging from the expression upon the Auror's face, Remus laughed.

"Have you been doing paperwork again?" he asked, arching an eyebrow, and Dora's hair brightened to a rather threatening shade of scarlet.

"I DON'T WANT THEM HERE!" the witch snapped, voice suddenly shrill, and the humour instantly faded from her husband's face. He took a moment to glance down at the trunk, before looking up to study her face intently.

"You don't really care if they're irritating, do you?" he asked quietly, and Carrie wondered what on earth they were, especially when Dora's face grew horribly pained and she admitted:

"No...not really."

Remus took a few steps forward, fingers reaching to brush against the Auror's arm.

"Did you ever...look inside?" he asked, voice not much more than a whisper, and Dora gave a rather startled shake of the head.

"No...no I couldn't. I...I just...I had Charlie take them to Gringott's for me...not looked since..."

Remus visibly paled.

"Then I'll take them back!" he said, immediately stooping to pick up the wooden box. "Right now..."

"No, no..." Dora mumbled, sighing heavily as she looked down at the trunk. "Keep them here...just...keep them out of the study, eh? You can take them back later." Shoulders hunched, she shuffled back down the hallway towards the study, hair fading back to a slightly greyer shade of blue than it had been earlier.

"Dora..." Remus began hesitantly, reaching to pass a wary hand through his hair, but she merely informed him:

"Carrie's in here."

"I didn't think you'd..." Remus mumbled, only to trail off into silence with a heavy sigh.

Carrie took a rather hesitant step out into the hallway, and she felt relieved that Remus appeared sufficiently distracted from their hapless conversation the evening beforehand. She couldn't help but suppose this was rather selfish of her, given the distinctly dismayed expression upon Remus' face as he dragged his gaze away from the study doorway to look at her.

"We better get this over with then, hadn't we?" he murmured, and with that he drew his wand again and sent both the trunk and box skidding across the floor and into the sitting room. Carrie watched in silence as he headed into the room behind them, pausing in the doorway to glance over his shoulder at her. "Come along, then." he said, and the muggle shuffled reluctantly down the hall after him.

The muggle settled herself upon the edge of the arm chair and watched in silence as the werewolf reached to heave the trunk into the middle of the room. As he straightened up, she consented to asking:

"What's in the trunk?"

"It belonged to Alastor Moody." Remus told her, gazing down at the mass of chains thoughtfully. "He left it and all it's contents to Dora in his will. As for what's inside..." He stooped, squinting down at the countless locks upon the front of the trunk. "Well, she's never opened it."

"Why not?" Carrie wondered, and there was a long pause as Remus reached to prod the central keyhole with his wand. The trunk rattled.

"Painful memories..." the werewolf murmured. "She misses him, even now..."

"Why would you want to open it?" Carrie asked, shifting rather uneasily in her chair as he straightened up, wand pointing at the trunk, and a small, sad smile graced his lips as he told her:

"Because I have a hunch I know precisely what Mad-Eye Moody would leave to his protegee."

And with that he gave his wand a sharp flick and Carrie leant forward in her chair as the chains snaked their way free from the trunk, the countless locks clicking open...

_WHOOSH!_

Carrie very nearly jumped out of her skin, throwing herself back in her chair as the lid was thrown violently open and an enormous gush of dust appeared to burst forth from the dark confides of the trunk. As it swirled and shifted in the air before him, Remus took a sizeable step backwards.

"Oh..." the wizard began, sounding unnervingly worried, only for the swirling to intensify and a gruff yet ghostly disembodied voice to send a shiver up Carrie's spine.

_Nymphadora..._

A figure was materialising in the dust and Carrie scrambled further back in her seat, eyes wide in terror as she reached to hug her knees to her chest.

"Oh Merlin..." Remus mumbled half a second later as a fully formed, dusty apparition of Alastor Moody began to advance upon him with frightening speed. "He's done it again...DORA? DORA, HE'S...HE'S DONE IT AG..." But before he could finish his alarmed shout he was engulfed in the cloud of dust, the particles coating his throat and making him choke...

_Nymphadora..._

_...you DARE..._

As Remus fell back upon the sofa, arms clamped hopelessly over his face, coughing violently, Carrie stared with wide, petrified eyes as Moody's figure leaned down towards him...

The muggle screamed.

You dare, Nymphadora...

Somewhere out in the hallway Carrie heard a door being flung back on its hinges and Dora appeared in the sitting room doorway so suddenly that the muggle could have sworn she had apparated.

The witch stood, face pale as she stared in shock at the chaotic scene before her, the swirling dust and the ghastly figure bearing down upon her husband who had resorted to burying his face in the nearest cushion. For a split second she looked positively alarmed, only to draw in a determined breath and call:

"Wotcher, Mad-Eye!"

Instantly, the dusty figure swirled around to face her, floating up towards the ceiling so that she was forced to look up at it.

_Nymphadora..._

Dora stared up at the vision of her dead mentor, and her face grew so very grave and white that Carrie felt a stab of panic that she might lose her nerve, or even burst into tears. But as the figure drifted towards her, the Auror squared her shoulders, chin jutting out defiantly as she demanded:

"DON'T call me Nymphadora, Mad-Eye!"

The dusty apparition paused and as Remus slowly dared to sit up upon the sofa, there was a long, almost calm pause, before the ghostly voice growled:

_YOU DARE!_

Dora reached carefully into her pocket for her wand.

"I dare what?" she asked as the figure slowly advanced upon her...

_Whoosh!_

Carrie let out another shriek of alarm as the figure threw out its arms, a furious burst of dust erupting into the air, and as Remus threw himself back down upon the sofa, Dora flinched.

"I dare what?" she shouted, taking a step back and raising an arm to shield her face form the sudden dust storm. "What do I dare?"

_Nymphadora..._

Carrie screwed her eyes shut as the dust swirled menacingly forward, and she heard Dora let out a spluttering cough as she dropped to the floor, arms clamped over her head. The whooshing sound grew and grew and Carrie felt rather as though she were in the middle of a hurricane, the hair being thrown back from her face and her heart hammering in her chest. And then, quite suddenly a loud voice inquired:

"So...are you wearing the spotted boxers today or what?"

And with that, the room fell eerily silent.

Carrie only dared to open her eyes a long moment later when she heard Remus asked:

"_What_ did you just say?"

Carrie opened her eyes just in time to see Dora take a few hesitant steps forward into the room, her feet leaving prints in the deep layer of dust that had settled upon the floor.

"That's what I used to say every morning." the witch mumbled, gazing down at the open trunk, expression once again sombre. "Each morning when I showed up at training...I was the only one who would dare to say it: _are you wearing the spotted boxers today or what?_" She reached to trail hesitant fingers along the edge of the trunk, the dust clinging to her fingertips, gathering under her nails.

As Remus heaved himself somewhat unsteadily back onto his feet, his expression was a strange mix of curiosity and utter revulsion.

"And...you would know Alastor owned a pair of spotted boxer shorts _because_...?" he wondered almost reluctantly, but Dora turned abruptly away from the trunk, reaching to swipe a hasty hand across her eyes with a mumbled:

"Fetch you a duster or two, shall I?" And with that, she disappeared out of the door.

Remus gazed after for a long moment, before giving himself a little shake.

"It's alright," he murmured. "I'm pretty sure I don't really want to know..."

Carrie watched him walk over to crouch down before the trunk, and as he began to search through the contents, removing an array of bizarre and strange looking objects and setting them down upon the dusty carpet beside him. Carrie slowly shifted her feet back down to the floor, leaning forward to peer curiously at the display.

"What are all of those?" she asked, frowning deeply as a long metal object that looked rather like a metal detector was extracted and set down beside what appeared to be some sort of mirror, it's surface foggy as if somebody had breathed upon it.

"They're Dark Detectors." Remus announced, leaning forward to squint into the trunk, and Carrie slid down out of her chair and onto the floor behind her, quite oblivious to the dust upon her knees as she leant to examine the mirror. The fog seemed to swirl quite suddenly and the muggle jumped.

"What's this?" she asked, daring to lean forward again, and as she peered into the mirror a shape seemed to be moving amongst the fog.

"That's a foe glass." Remus explained with a brief sideways glance. "It's used to keep an eye on the user's enemies, the closer they get the clearer you can see them."

At this notion, Carrie jumped again, and hastily turned her attention to the long stick-like contraption.

"And...this?"

"A secrecy sensor." the wizard supplied, rummaging around in the bottom of the trunk, pulling out what appeared to be a bent golden antenna followed by a large silver hip flask. "Probity probe...half a dozen pocket foe glasses and..._ah_..." Setting down the two objects, Remus reached into the trunk to retrieve a third, turning to hold it out for Carrie's inspection.

It appeared to be a bronze spinning top.

Carrie stared at it blankly.

"Take it." Remus told her, and as she reached out a hand to do just that, he added: "Call it yours."

Hand hovering uncertainly over this strange gift, the muggle wondered:

"Are you...sure?"

"Of course." Remus smiled, pushing it into her hand. "There are at least five more in the trunk and Dora already has her own. Alastor bought it for her for Christmas one year, I believe."

"Oh..." Carrie mumbled rather uncertainly as she held the object up for examination. "Thanks...what is it?"

"That," Remus informed her, rising back to his feet and reaching to pat the dust from the front of his trousers, "is a pocket Sneakoscope."

"Cool..." Carrie said, eying the present keenly, only to look up at the werewolf and ask: "What's that?"

Remus crossed the room to the sofa, sat down and leant forward, gaze upon her somewhat piercing.

"If somebody does something untrustworthy nearby," he said as Carrie gazed back at him, "it will spin and whistle."

At this particularly meaningful explanation, Carrie felt her cheeks tinge pink.

"Oh..." she mumbled, hurriedly looking back down at the sneakoscope. "Great..."

"It is, isn't it?" Remus agreed, leaning back in his chair. His gaze drifted up towards the ceiling as he observed: "Because that's what this is all about, isn't it Carrie? It's all about trust."

Carrie was beginning to think that she had never felt more embarrassed by anything in her whole entire life.

_Say sorry_, a small voice inside her head demanded._ For goodness sake, say sorry..._

But the words didn't seem to be able to form on her tongue, or even coherently in her mind. She simply couldn't quite get past how embarrassing the whole situation was, how he'd seemed to have gone to some lengths to land her in it in the first place...

_It'll do you good_, she told herself as she stared down at the sneakoscope. _Because after all you deserve it, perhaps it might change you..._

_Besides, he wouldn't be sitting you here in the first place if you hadn't been so utterly disrespectful in the first place..._

_So change. Say: I'm sorry_...

And yet when she opened her mouth to speak, she found herself chuckling awkwardly and mumbling:

"Shouldn't you be the one to have the sneakoscope, then?"

She was surprised when he chuckled too, gaze dropping from the ceiling with a smile.

"Of course not." he said, as if it were all terribly obvious. "I trust you entirely, Carrie. Or at least I will do, once _you_ trust _me_."

Carrie simply gawped at him.

"I...I trust you!" she protested, feeling rather pained as she had done back in the study when she had spoken to Dora. "I trust you and Dora! Of...of course I do!"

"Of course you don't." Remus corrected, still smiling faintly. "You might think you trust us, but deep down you certainly don't. If you did truly trust us you wouldn't feel the need to eavesdrop on us."

"That's ridiculous!" Carrie protested indigently. "I've always trusted you! I...I've trusted you with my life on more than one occasion, I...it's...it's _stupid_!"

"Of course it's stupid." Remus agreed, eyebrow raised. "But whoever said stupid things couldn't be true?"

"It's not true!" Carrie snapped, voice rising in volume at the suggestion. The certainty in his smile was beginning to truly bother her.

"It's perfectly true, Carrie. You've been eavesdropping on us whenever you can for years." Remus explained calmly. "You used to do it because you were a child, and children are naturally inquisitive and we were interesting to you. But you're not a little girl anymore and we're far less of a novelty these days. Now you eavesdrop on us because you're worried we might be hiding things from you, or not telling you the whole truth. And you can't stand to be in the dark because we spend half our lives telling you that you are one of us, and you think you can't be one of us if you don't know everything. Which is why you need the sneakoscope, so you can realise that we aren't hiding anything from you. Once you realise that, you can trust us. And once you trust us, Dora and I can trust you."

And with that, Carrie watched numbly a the werewolf rose to his feet, looking undoubtably pleased by his deductions about her character, and as he strode across the room and towards the hallway in search of the elusive dusters that Dora had supposedly gone to look for, Carrie felt completely and utterly exposed.

Dropping the sneakoscope down into her lap, the muggle felt compelled to attempt to defend herself in some way.

"I...I don't ever _mean_ to eavesdrop!" she mumbled feebly at the werewolf's retreating back, only to give a startled jump as a high pitched whistling sound pierced her ears and in her lap the sneakoscope vibrated in it's attempts to spin in her lap. Above the sudden disturbance, the muggle could have sworn that she could hear Remus' laughter.

"Bugger..." she muttered, clamping a hand down upon the sneakoscope in an attempt to stifle the noise.


	3. The Bird and The Bees

_Note: LONGEST. CHAPTER. EVER! _

_That's about all I have to say, really. _

_Except for I am back at University tomorrow, so I'm afraid I will not be updating as often as usual. To quote Lockhart (as I did to you earlier, Sam,): No one regrets more than I! _

_Oh, and there are lots of attempts at (poor) humour in this chapter! So...consider yourselves warned!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**3: The Bird and the Bees**

"So..." Carrie Winters mumbled into the collar of her boyfriend's shirt, shifting under the duvet to get more comfortable. "When your mum says this work experience you're going to do is dangerous...how dangerous is dangerous?"

Teddy Lupin reached to pull the duvet further over them, frowning up at the ceiling.

"Well...people have been known to die." he informed the muggle gravely, causing her to squirm. "In fact, there was a case just last year...blood and guts everywhere...!"

"Oh stop it!" Carrie complained, reaching to thump him admonishingly upon the arm, and the young wizard let out a mock-cackle, throwing his arms around her and hugging her tightly until she was forced to squirm more than ever.

"You're wicked!" Carrie informed him indignantly, attempting to sound serious, but she knew that this was a futile endeavour, what with the shower of kisses that he was raining down upon her head, and she chose to forgo bickering in favour of leaning her head back to capture his lips against her own.

Carrie and Teddy's first foray under the duvet in Teddy's bedroom had been the previous Christmas Eve, when they had slipped upstairs to exchange Christmas presents and had resorted to huddling together under the covers for warmth, since Teddy had left his window open in anticipation of the owl was due to arrive that evening. It had been an entirely innocent scene and yet Carrie had found herself failing to resist the urge to glance at the door every minute or so, out of fear that they might be caught out. Even now, with numerous and rather less innocent trips under the duvet, Carrie had yet to shake off her paranoia that Remus or Dora might choose to burst through the door at any moment and scare the life out of her. The sort of conversation that would no doubt follow simply didn't bear thinking about...

And yet the muggle knew full well that she had nothing to worry about. For one thing, Remus and Dora never ventured into their son's bedroom without knocking, except for those occasions when Dora was on the warpath for some reason or other, but that didn't really matter because her stomping footsteps could be heard from a mile away or more, which gave the two teenagers more than ample time to look suitably innocent.

Not that they had all that much to look guilty about, that was. There tended to be an awful lot of kissing and the messing up of hair, and after a while there was often quite a bit of heavy petting, but not usually much else.

Indeed, should anybody choose to fling the door open unexpectedly there wouldn't be any sort of mad scramble for discarded items of clothing or rush to do up buttons or zips...

Carrie's discarded t-shirt a couple of weeks earlier didn't really count, since that had been under the duvet in her room back at University and if any of her fellow students had walked in on them it probably wouldn't have been all that bad. After all, judging from the few astonishing sounds that had a habit of drifting through the wall from the bedroom next door, Carrie could only assume that at least two of those living on her floor were Doing It at least every other night.

That discarded t-shirt had been the closest that Carrie and Teddy had actually come to Doing It so far. Carrie supposed she ought not call it Doing It, since that was probably childish. And yet she couldn't seem to help it. She liked the ambiguousness of the phrase, it lent itself well to a lack of expectation.

Sex had a proper definition, everybody old enough to consider having sex knew what it involved, Carrie knew it...

Teddy knew it.

And that was what Carrie hated about it so much. It wasn't that she was in any way prude, she wasn't really childish, she was simply frightened by all the expectations that went with it.

_I might not be any good at it_, she'd mumbled that night back at University, having panicked at far too much exposed flesh and the realisation that she had no idea how one ought act when only semi-clothed, before scrambling to pull the t-shirt back on. _I might not know what to do..._

_That won't matter_, Teddy had told her, gazing rather politely up at the ceiling so that she might panic in private. _I won't know if you're no good and you won't know if I'm rubbish either. We've __nobody to compare one another with, for one thing. And anyway, that doesn't matter. It would be special, no matter what happened. Because it would be you and me._

Despite her shyness, Carrie was not entirely free from the desires that stirred amongst hot blood and hormones, indeed it startled her to think of just how carried away she was capable of becoming. Consequently she was quite glad when Teddy paused in his deliberate toying with the hem of her vest top, fingers trailing across exposed skin and leaving her to burn and shiver all at once, in order to tell her:

"Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be too dangerous. They're hardly going to throw me to the erklings on my first day, after all!"

Carrie managed to drag her mind away from the vaguely intoxicated state that his kisses and wandering hands had left her in.

"What's an erkling?" she mumbled, rolling onto her back so that she could stare up at the ceiling and silent curse the sunshine streaming in through the window, revealing to him her flushed complexion in all it's glory.

"It eats children." Teddy told her casually, as though this were something of very little consequence, and Carrie's brow furrowed deeply.

"Eats children...?"

"Yep." The wizard grinned as if this was an amusing past time for the creature, leaning to press a kiss to the tip of the muggle's nose. "Mum says they have to keep them out in the forest, away from the village. You know, so they don't eat anybody. I probably won't see them, Dad says they'll probably have me shovelling dung half a week at least."

"Well I still think it sounds wonderful." Carrie told him, shifting to rest her head against his shoulder, her racing heart at last beginning to slow to a more reasonable speed. "All those magical creatures! I'd give anything for a job like that...or...or any magical job! Anything but a boring muggle one!"

"You never know," Teddy mused, "You could end up with one."

"I'm a muggle." Carrie reminded him, leaning back to look up at him so that she could pull a face at his idiocy, but he ignored her.

"That doesn't matter. There are loads of jobs out there in the magical world that muggles could do!"

"Like what?" she asked disbelievingly, bordering on irritated that he saw fit to raise her hopes for what she was sure was nothing.

"I don't know...Mum could pull strings..."

"A MUGGLE AUROR? Really, Ted...!"

"Well no, but..."

"That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard!"

"Not really, Sweetheart. You're awfully good at kneeing dark wizards in the groin, after all. Not even Mum's done something quite that brilliant!" At this reminder of what Carrie considered in a odd way to be one of the proudest moments of her life, the two of them sniggered, his face buried in her hair for a moment before he said: "Obviously not a muggle Auror, silly! Mum does know people outside of the Auror Department, you know! I'll ask her, if you like. You know, see what she reckons." He halted the conversation abruptly by making a sudden grab for the duvet, yanking it up over their heads and shrouding them in darkness, eliciting a small squeak of surprise from the muggle who had thought their daring quite done with for one afternoon.

"Teddy..." she attempted to protest as he slipped his arms tightly around her and pulled her closer until she was pressed firmly against his side, "Your Mum's going to be calling us for lunch, and..."

"Shhh!"

"But..."

"Quick! Gimme a kiss!"

"I can't see!"

"Up here...up a bit...no, that's my ear..."

"Oops..."

"Stop giggling and give me a proper kiss!"

"I can't help it..."

"Don't make me tickle you!"

"I...No! Teddy don't! I'm tickli...ARGH!"

Above Carrie's shriek of protest and the pair of them giggling and sniggering and fumbling around under the duvet, she attempting to avoid his hands and he seeking out her ribs so that he could tickle her mercilessly, neither heard the footsteps on the stairs, nor the soft knock upon the bedroom door. Carrie had just let out a fresh squeal of protest when the knocking came again, louder this time, and Carrie very nearly bit through her tongue in an attempt to stifle herself mid-squeak.

She and Teddy instantly froze.

"Teddy...?" Dora's voice called from the other side of the door, tone distinctly wary, and Teddy instantly reached to fling the duvet off of them as Carrie felt her already flushed cheeks burn in embarrassment.

"Hmm?" the young wizard called back reluctantly.

"Soup's on the table, love." his mother called, and as he reached to attempt to flatten his wayward turquoise hair, Teddy mumbled:

"That's great, thanks Mum. We'll be down in a bit."

"I think you ought come down now, Ted." Dora suggested, though Carrie didn't think it sounded like much of a suggestion at all. "It's getting cold."

"Right..." Teddy agreed, and with that the two teenagers hurriedly scrambled up off of the bed.

As it was, it took Teddy some five minutes to persuade Carrie away from straightening her hair in the mirror and downstairs into the kitchen. She only dared bolt downstairs when he pointed out that the longer it took for them to appear at the table the more suspicious they would look. They arrived in the kitchen to find Remus and Dora engrossed in what Carrie suspected was a deeply serious talk of some sort, they were leant towards one another across the table, their voices hushed and their own bowls of soup apparently forgotten. As she took her seat at Dora's side, Carrie caught sight of a rather amused smirk upon the witch's lips as she leant back in her chair and reached for a spoon.

"That's settled, then." the Auror decided, crossing her legs under the table, and across from her Remus too leant back in his chair and agreed:

"Yes, it is." He promptly turned to his son, who was just busy blowing upon his first spoonful of soup in an attempt to cool it down, and told him: "We've got a thing or two to talk about with you both, Teddy." When Teddy merely offered him a raised eyebrow, invitation to continue, he added: "After lunch, that is."

Carrie attempted to shake off the feeling that this was not going to be a conversation she should look forward to, and was glad when Teddy seemed entirely unconcerned. Shovelling his spoon into his mouth, the youngest Lupin winced a little as the soup burnt his throat. He promptly abandoned his spoon and reached to busy himself with a slice of bread instead.

"Mum," he said, gaze flickering over in Dora's direction as the witch poured herself a glassful of orange juice. "Carrie and I were thinking...what kind of job could she get after University? As a muggle in the wizarding world, I mean."

Dora frowned into her glass as she took a thoughtful sip of juice.

"Not much of one, I imagine." she mused as she set the glass back down upon the table. "Most halfway decent jobs require OWLs and NEWTs, for one thing...and magic for another..."

"But what about Squibs?" Teddy insisted as Carrie failed to resist the urge to slump in her chair somewhat. "What do they do?"

"They get muggle jobs." Dora admitted frankly, only to look rather regretful when she cast a sideways glance at Carrie, amending: "Well...not all of them...I mean look at Filch..."

"There are plenty of jobs for Squibs and muggles in the magical world." Remus reasoned, offering Carrie a reassuring smile that faltered somewhat when Teddy asked:

"Really? Like what?"

Remus and Dora exchanged a look.

"Well..." Dora began slowly, toying with her spoon, "Obviously there aren't plenty of jobs...what Dad means is that there are...several options...probably."

"We've never really thought about it." Remus explained, pausing to reach to steal the remainder of his wife's orange juice, before setting the empty glass down and commenting: "It's an interesting question, though."

"I reckon if half the pen-pushers at the Ministry were squibs nobody would really notice." Dora said, once she was finished offering her husband a suitably exasperated look at his theft. "But those aren't exactly interesting, you might as well go and work in a muggle office."

"They'd value muggles at the Muggle Liaison Office." Remus suggested, and Dora nodded enthusiastically through a mouthful of soup.

"I've met those supposed Muggle Experts or whatever they call themselves! Idiots the lot of them, I probably know half as much again about muggles than that office does put together."

"That's hardly surprising, Mum." Teddy pointed out, offering Carrie a raised eyebrow, causing her to snigger, but Dora merely ignored him.

"If you got a job there, Carrie," the witch grinned, "I reckon you'd be promoted so fast you'd be the office Head within a month!"

"Don't be daft." Remus told her, rolling his eyes a little at her exaggeration. "Besides, you think anybody who isn't with the Aurors is an idiot."

Dora's eyes widened in mock-offense, but he had already turned his attention back to his soup, musing:

"It is a wonder they haven't employed muggles and squibs before now, though."

Determined to get her own back for his teasing, Dora reached to pat him comfortingly upon the arm and announced:

"That's not true, Sweetheart. Just because you're not with the Aurors and I think you're an idiot, doesn't mean I want to tarnish ever other non-Auror with the same brush."

As Carrie sniggered into her apple juice, the werewolf made an immensely sarcastic show of laughing. Grinning broadly, Dora assured Carrie:

"There are probably all sorts of jobs out there, Carrie. You've just got to keep an eye out for them. Perhaps they might not be the most well paid jobs in the world, but there's a whole lot more to life than money."

"I don't know..." Carrie admitted, suddenly rather glum. "Most jobs get down faster with magic, and why would you want to employ somebody who'll be terribly slow?"

"Not everything gets done better the magical way." Remus reasoned, and Carrie eyed him disbelievingly and asked:

"Like what?"

Again, Remus and Dora exchanged a rather uncertain look.

"Exactly." Carrie mumbled, eying her bowl rather accusingly.

"We'll get Remus on it, Carrie love." Dora insisted brightly, reaching to nudge her encouragingly with an elbow. "He's bound to come up with something, aren't you Sweetheart?"

"Of course," Remus agreed, frowning thoughtfully. "After all, you'll still be at University for two years yet. You've got ages to think about what you want to do."

"Plus Dad's dead good at job hunting." Teddy pointed out, ignoring the instant glare that his mother shot in his direction. "Before he got lumbered tutoring Harry's little monsters, looking for a job _was_ his job..."

"You'll find something, Carrie." Remus interrupted, only to wince when Dora aimed a hefty kick at Teddy's shins under the table, only to miss and hit her husband's ankle instead.

"Maybe." Carrie mumbled, still gazing down into her bowl. She felt quite deflated despite their reassurances and once talk turned to the Auror Department and Harry Potter's repeated scolding of Jasmine Wickes and Isaac Graham for leaving the office unattended the day of the blessing, the muggle was only paying vague attention.

"...and then Jasmine said if he was going to lose his temper he ought call Robert in to his office and yell at him too, since he left the office without permission as well..."

"Oh dear..."

"Yeah...Harry was unimpressed. He said it was round about time she stopped blaming her own mistakes on others, and then he told Isaac that being the sensible one he should have known better. Apparently there were four reported sightings of that bastard Burke that Harry's been after and nobody responded to any of them because the office was empty. He's utterly furious. And then Jasmine made it worse...she wasn't taking it seriously, so she said he ought shout at me too, since I technically hadn't requested a day off either..."

"Ha!"

"So Harry told her to get the hell out of his office. And then he ranted at Isaac for another ten minutes until Robert popped his head round the door to ask if he wanted a cup of coffee..."

"Ah..."

"Of course he had a go at Robert, too, and I thought it might be good if he stopped for breath because he looked fit to burst, so I told him Robert had already suffered enough, so Harry could stop yelling. But of course Harry asked me if I meant I'd put him on disciplinary measures, which I obviously haven't. So I decided to copy Jasmine. I told him Robert had spent the afternoon watching his ex-girlfriend marry another man and wasn't that punishment enough?"

"For Merlin's sake, Dora..."

"Obviously Harry told me to get the hell out of his office too. He said I wasn't on bloody holiday yet, so I might try and take my job at least vaguely seriously for a few more days at the very least. And then he took Robert's coffee he'd been drinking and told him and Isaac to sod off too."

"I don't entirely blame him."

"Well no, me neither, they've all been utterly ridiculous! Robert wanted me to ask you to postpone our trip, for the safety of the office. He says if I leave him and the others at Harry's mercy and disappear off on holiday, chances are they'll have all been either cursed into oblivion or sacked by the time I get back." As she dumped the last bowl and spoon into the washing up bowl and set a sponge to begin scrubbing it clean, Dora turned to regard the others sat at the table, all amusement suddenly gone from her face. "Right..." she said, dusting non-existent dirt from the front of her blouse. "Right...shall we, then?"

"Yes...let's..." Remus agreed, rising to his feet, and Carrie suddenly recalled the vaguely ominous announcement when she had Teddy had first sat down to eat.

"Sitting room?" Dora suggested, and Remus puffed his cheeks rather reluctantly and agreed:

"Yes...the sitting room."

As she headed for the door, the witch visibly sniggered, and the werewolf shot her a revolted look before announcing:

"Right then you two, into the sitting room!"

Carrie and Teddy sat down upon the sofa and Carrie drew her feet up, hugging her knees to her chest as she watched Remus take a seat in the armchair, Dora half-perched herself upon one of the arms, gripping the back of the chair to keep her balance. For a long minute the two adults stared at Teddy and Carrie.

Teddy and Carrie stared back.

After what seemed like an age, Teddy seemingly couldn't quite cope with the silence anymore, for he sat straighter in his chair and asked:

"Well? What is it?"

Remus reached to scratch his chin with a frown and Dora pursed her lips together tightly for a moment, before leaning to nudge her husband in the leg with a foot. The look he shot her was unnaturally bad-tempered, apparently he had no intention of being rushed.

Dora sniggered, only to stop abruptly when she found a firm hand reaching to clamp down upon her knee, very nearly unbalancing her.

Remus leaned forward a little in his chair and cleared his throat meaningfully.

"Theodore," he began in his very best Parent-To-Child voice, instantly causing Teddy to find the blue and black stripes upon his socks utterly fascinating. "Your mother and I have been talking, and we think now would be a good time for us to all sit down and...and have a little chat about..."

He was cut off by his son's loud groan of horror.

"Oh for the love of Merlin...!" the youngest Lupin moaned, reaching to bury his face in his hands. "Dad...please...DON'T DO IT!"

Remus opened his mouth to speak again, only to pause when Dora failed to suppress a rather loud snigger.

"Why don't you go and put the kettle on?" he suggested meaningfully, but the witch merely smirked at him.

"Not a chance, Remus love!" she announced with a grin. "I wouldn't miss this one for the world..."

"M-UM!" Teddy complained into the palms of his hands as Carrie attempted to decide quite what part of the room she ought choose to stare at.

_Please_, she thought desperately, _don't let it be one of those conversations..._

"The fact of the matter is, Ted," Remus went on, his grip upon his wife's knee tightening to the point that Carrie thought it looked rather painful, "You're at an age now..._both of you_ are at an age now..."

_Oh Merlin_, Carrie thought in horror as she felt her cheeks burning in embarrassment.

"...that, as adults, you have a responsibility to yourselves and to one another to act in...in a sensible manner..._Dora stop smiling_!"

"Nothing wrong with looking cheerful, love..."

"Dad's right, Mum." Teddy muttered. "Stop grinning like that, it's disturbing."

"As I was saying..."

"Dad we don't have to have a little chat about anything, we already did the birds and the bees thing years ago!" For a brief moment Teddy dared to look up at his parents, expression hopeful. "Unless we're not talking about the birds and the bees, that is...?"

"What Dad's trying to explain," Dora said, voice suddenly the model of seriousness. "Is how one goes about not getting _stung_ by the bees."

There was a long pause as both Teddy and Carrie attempted to grasp the meaning of this explanation, and as comprehension dawned their faces contorted apprehensively.

Dora promptly burst out laughing, only to halt abruptly again when Remus very nearly pushed her straight off the arm of the chair.

"For Merlin's sake, go and put the kettle on!" he hissed, and she stumbled to her feet, lips pursed firmly together in an attempt to halt her amusement.

"If you say so, love..." the witch agreed, fluttering her eyelids at him in a less than innocent fashion, and he reached to give her a firm nudge in the direction of the door.

Despite Teddy practically curling up into a ball upon the sofa beside her, Carrie straightened up in her chair, letting her feet slide back down onto the floor and swallowing the lump in her throat.

"I already know about how contraception works." she informed her boyfriend's father, doing her very best not to blush. "We had a class at school. They handed out condoms and carrots and made us follow a demonstration..." she frowned deeply at the memory as she recalled: "Cleo ate her carrot and used the condom as a water balloon the following lunchtime..."

Whilst Teddy very nearly choked with laughter, Remus merely raised an eyebrow.

"Well," he said, sounding vaguely relieved that Carrie was contributing to the conversation at the very least. "Hogwarts doesn't have any classes like that. It's all left up to the parents. My father taught me about contraceptive spells, and he was taught by my grandfather, who in turn was taught by his father, who was taught by _his_ father..."

"I get the point, Dad..."

"Consequently, Theodore, you and I will sit down and have this conversation in sensible and grown-up fashion, because if every other generation of fathers and sons up until now managed it, I'll be damned if we won't."

Teddy sighed heavily just as Dora reappeared from the hallway, apparently she had no desire to stand around in the kitchen and wait for the kettle to actually boil.

"Isn't there...some other way we can do this?" Teddy wondered pleadingly as his mother settled herself back down upon her perch. "Like...isn't there...a book of...of those sorts of spells or...or something?"

"There is..." Remus began rather reluctantly, only for Dora to interrupt:

"But you can't read it."

"And we don't own a copy." Remus decided, and Dora nodded her head vigorously...

At that precise moment all four of them jumped at the sound of a high pitched whistling sound, and Carrie hastily shoved a hand into her pocket in order to draw the sneakoscope out of her pocket. As it attempted to spin wildly around in her palm, Teddy folded his arms firmly across his chest, expression revolted.

"That's a lie." the youngest Lupin pointed out unnecessarily. "And I could read it if I wanted to, because it's in the bottom of your wardrobe, underneath the stack of shoe boxes."

There was a sizeable pause as Remus let out a resigned sigh, and Dora took a moment to digest this information before demanding to know:

"How in Merlin's name did you find that out?"

Teddy gave an impatient shrug.

"It was years ago," he muttered. "I was searching for my Christmas presents."

Dora looked mildly outraged and it wasn't for a long minute that she managed to find her voice.

"Yeah...well..." she began hesitantly, causing Remus to sink back in his chair with another sigh. "There's nothing wrong with that, Teddy. We might not have it out on a bookcase for everybody to look at, but I think you'll find at least ninety nine point nine percent of married witches and wizards own a copy."

"What...like Grandad Arthur and Grandma Molly?" Teddy asked, face contorting at the mere thought, and he groaned in horror when Dora insisted:

"There's no doubt."

"It was a rhetorical question!" the young wizard muttered, only for Carrie to reach to slap him rebukingly upon the arm. Taking this as a cue to begin a different line of protest, Teddy turned to scowl at his father, announcing:

"Well there's not much point in you trying to explain it to me, is there?" he complained. "I mean first you had me..._by accident_, then you were going to have Rae..._by accident_! I'm not entirely sure you have even the faintest idea what you're talking about..."

"Would you rather I floo Grandad Arthur and asked him to pop over?" Remus asked, offering his son a raised eyebrow as Dora simply stared, aghast that her son would say such a thing.

Teddy's eyes widened quite madly.

"Are you INSANE?" he cried, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Grandad Arthur has had SEVEN children! He's clearly even more crap at those sorts of spells than you are!"

Carrie couldn't help but dissolve into giggles, but Dora's hysterical laughter drowned her out.

Remus' expression remained impressively unchanged.

"Alright then," he said, folding his arms firmly across his chest. "You can benefit by learning from my mistakes. The first thing you should know about contraceptive spells is that you should never, under any circumstances, attempt to perform them whilst drunk."

"Is that why I'm here, then?"

"No...the other thing you should know is that no matter how magical they sound, wedding vows are in no way shape or form a type of contraceptive spell."

"Again, that was a rhetorical question..."

Carrie leant back in her chair and attempted to fix a suitably serious expression onto her face. She had a feeling that it was going to be a long afternoon.

Teddy had escaped the room at the very first opportunity that presented itself, and Carrie had been keen to follow his lead, only for Dora to halt her midway to the door.

"I was thinking, Carrie love," the witch said, reaching to slide an arm around Remus' neck in order to steady herself upon the arm of the chair, "about earlier, when you said you wanted a job in the magical world. And I think I have an idea."

Carrie felt excitement instantly begin to bubble up inside of her, and she failed not to grin broadly.

"I've already told Teddy there can't possibly be such a thing as a muggle Auror." she said, and Dora grinned too.

"Mm...you're right, that wasn't really what I was going for." the witch admitted, fingers tangling absentmindedly in her husband's hair as she asked: "How're you with animals?"

Remus' head snapped round to look round at her so suddenly that she very nearly tore out a fistful of his hair.

"Are you about to say what I think you're about to say?" he asked, wincing a little, and Dora looked incredibly pleased with herself.

"Probably." she said, eying Carrie intently. "I was wondering, Carrie love, how would you like to tag along with us when we go away, and go with Ted and ask Edwin and the others if they've any work that you could help with?"

Carrie felt instantly stunned.

She couldn't quite believe her ears, indeed this was quite possibly the last thing that she had expected to be asked. She had thought after the incident on the day of the blessing that they would be looking forward to being rid of her for a while, glad to have time to themselves...

Time to themselves on a second honeymoon, no less!

"Really?" she found herself half-squeaking. "Do...do you mean it?"

Apparently her shock had served to dispel Remus' own surprise, for he leant back in his chair, a broad smile spreading across his face, only to falter a little when Dora muttered:

"No, not really, I thought I'd get your hopes up and then crush them into smithereens, just for giggles...yes! Of course I bloody mean it!"

Carrie instantly launched herself across the room and threw her arms around the two of them, failing to suppress a small shriek of excitement. She wasn't entirely sure why she felt compelled to include Remus in the crushingly tight hug, since he hadn't technically agreed to the plan and if anybody was going to disagree with it, he would. But she crushed his face into her stooped shoulder nevertheless and thanked him along with Dora profusely until they both saw fit to attempt to prise themselves free from her.

"Well, go and tell Ted and you can pop home and ask your aunt." Dora suggested brightly, and Carrie barely resisted the urge to throw her arms around her for a second time, instead choosing to half-skip out of the room in a fashion that she suspected looked very childish indeed, but she honestly couldn't have cared less quite what she looked like. As she skidded to a brief halt in the hallway, glancing down towards the kitchen in an attempt to decipher Teddy's whereabouts, she heard Remus murmur:

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course it's a good idea, Remus." Dora announced. "After all, I was the one to come up with it! Anyway, there will be plenty of people around to keep an eye on things. What's there to worry about?"

As she made for the stairs, Carrie could have sworn she heard Remus mutter:

"Famous last words, darling. Famous last words..."

Carrie had barely managed to contain her excitement over the follow few days, and when the morning of the holiday dawned, warm but overcast, she had already been awake for several hours, packing and re-packing her suitcase, making a mental list of all of the magical creatures she had ever heard mention of, feeling more and more excited at the recollection of each one. She was even excited about child-eating erkling and wondered if she would actually be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of it. As it neared half past six in the morning, she began to wonder just how early she could show up at the Lupins' house without waking them up...

She only made it to seven o'clock, when her Aunt Susan had stumbled sleepily out of her room in her dressing gown and slippers to discover a fully-dressed Carrie stood in the narrow hallway, suitcase at her feet, eying the clock accusingly.

"Off this morning then, love?" Aunt Susan had asked, failing not to snigger, and Carrie had felt momentarily silly before realising that the large hand upon the clock had finally reached twelve precisely.

"Yep...right now, actually!" she'd announced, reaching to grab hold of her suitcase.

"This time of morning?"

"Yes...we've a train to catch!"

"Ah...yes, I suppose it's quite a long ride over to Wales."

"Yes."

"Well, then! Don't you have a quick kiss for your auntie, or can't you spare the half-second?"

Carrie had dropped the suitcase and consented to hurrying down the hallway and throwing her arms rather clumsily around her aunt, planting a rushed kiss upon her cheek, mumbling:

"Bye, then!"

"Have a lovely time, love."

"I will!"

And she would have a good time, Carrie thought as she escaped out of the door. She would have the most wonderful and marvellous time ever. Indeed, the muggle would go as far as to wager that she was going to have the time of her life! As she walked across town, a spring in her step despite her heavy suitcase, she wondered if she had packed the right sort of clothing and just how many different animals she was going to see. By the time she had let herself into the Lupins' hallway she had devised countless questions to bombard Remus with about their destination, and she was just drawing breath to announce her arrival to the house at large, when she realised that the house was dim from drawn curtains and disappointingly silent...

_They're still asleep,_ Carrie realised dully, abandoning her suitcase and reaching to close the door carefully behind her. She was yet more disappointed than ever when soft footsteps sounded on the stairs and she turned to spot Dora creeping down the steps towards her...

...dressed for work in freshly pressed scarlet Auror robes and sturdy black laced boots.

Carrie couldn't help but look a little mortified.

"Morning, Carrie love." the witch murmured, offering her a bright smile, and Carrie simply eyed her attire accusingly.

"Are you going to work?" she asked incredulously, and as she reached the bottom of the stairs, Dora chuckled, reaching to pat the muggle upon the arm.

"The department's having some sort of minor crisis," she grinned. "Apparently Harry's not back from last night's raid and somebody with a shred of authority needs to go and kick Jasmine's arse for whatever it is she's done this time."

Despite her disappointment, Carrie sniggered.

"What're you going to do with her?" she asked, following the Deputy Head of Aurors up the hallway to the study.

"Merlin knows..." Dora sighed, reaching to gather up the papers upon the desk. "Probably throw her to the Wizengamot."

Carrie's eyes widened and as she took a step backwards to let the witch pass her again she wondered:

"She won't get given the sack, will she?"

As she headed towards the front door to snatch up a pale leather satchel that had been abandoned amongst the shoes, reaching to open it and stuff the papers inside, Dora puffed her cheeks thoughtfully.

"They'll probably suspend her without pay. They do that to her quite a lot." As she headed for the fireplace in the sitting room, the witch assured the muggle: "I reckon she could withstand at least two more suspensions before they finally think about sacking her. Jasmine has one of the best arrest records in the department. She might be a loose canon but she's bloody fearless and sharp as a basilisk fang. Her only problem, Kingsley says, is that she's _too much like her Deputy_!" She gave a vaguely indigent snort before telling Carrie: "I don't want to lose her, Harry won't want to lose her and Kingsley won't want to either. We'll keep her safe between us." Reaching to snatch up a handful of floo powder, Dora glanced over her shoulder to offer the muggle another bright smile. "I'll be back in an hour at most!" she announced, and with that she stepped carefully into the grate and disappeared in a burst of emerald flames.

Carrie went to sit upon the sofa.

She waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Remus appeared downstairs around half an hour later, hair damp and plastered to his head having showered, and another half an hour had passed by the time Teddy had joined them in the kitchen for scrambled eggs on toast.

Half hours turned into hours and they ticked by, with no sign of Dora at all. And Carrie waited...

And waited.

And waited.

The clock read well past noon by the time Dora finally reappeared to find Carrie sat upon the sofa as if she hadn't moved a muscle all morning. As she dusted soot from her robes, the Deputy Head of Aurors cast a dark look in Carrie's direction.

"I take it back." she muttered, giving up on her dusting and shrugging the robes off instead, tossing them in the direction of the armchair. "I hope they bloody sack her." And with that, she plastered a far more cheery expression onto her face and shouted: "ALRIGHT, REMUS LOVE? I'M BACK!"

They'd left almost as soon as Dora had changed out of her work clothes.

Carrie had felt so excited that she had barely dreaded apparating, which she had long felt to be one of her least favourite ways to travel. Indeed she had hardly felt sick when she had felt concrete give way to grass under her feet because when she had dared open her eyes she had felt quite stunned by the sight that greeted her.

They were stood atop a tall, steep hill that sloped sharply downwards, the long grass upon it's surface disturbed by craggy grey rocks and, to their right, a ramshackle dirt path that led down into the valley below. The valley itself was heavily wooded, the dark trees sprawling out, up the hillsides opposite them and Carrie found herself wondering just how many different animals were concealed under the treetops. A light mist hung over the valley, casting a serene sense of mystery about the place and as they set off down the path, feet squelching a little in the mud left by recent rainfall, Carrie couldn't help but think it glittered unnaturally.

Their progress was slow down the steep incline, and as the path began to snake it's way towards the valley floor they reached the edge of the forest. As they stepped under the cover of the trees, Carrie failed to suppress a small gasp of wonder. Lanterns had been hung upon the tree branches ahead of them, lighting up the widened dirt track with flickering blue light. Carrie was just opening her mouth to whisper to Teddy just how stunning a sight it was when a voice from above very nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"'Lo! Who goes there?"

The four of them looked up searchingly, and Carrie caught sight of a young man sat stretched out upon a sturdy tree branch, dressed in a faded pair of corded trousers tucked into a sturdy pair of boots, the sleeves of his dishevelled shirt rolled up to his elbows. Carrie watched as he leant forward upon his precarious perch, bright eyes squinting down at them for a moment before a broad grin spread across his face and he reached to grab hold of another branch, swinging himself down from the tree and landing with a soft thump in front of them.

"Alrigh', Mr. Lupin?" he greeted, offering Remus his hand to shake, whilst reaching with his other to attempt to straighten his shock of yellow-blonde hair. "I thought it would be you! I'm to take you straight to Pa, he says, so he can settle you in before he sees to the Granian herd."

"Thank you, Samuel." Remus said, and as the pair shook hands Dora took a small step backwards in surprise.

"No!" she cried, eyes widening. "You're never little Sammy who used to wake me up at six each morning to see the pig-snout morph!"

The young man gave a vaguely embarrassed chuckle.

"It's just Samuel now, Mrs. Lupin." he told her, glancing over her shoulder at Teddy and Carrie. "An' you're Ted." he observed, looking the youngest Lupin up and down before deciding: "Which is a relief because we're always short of hands this time of year!"

"Is there really that much dung to shift?" Dora asked, causing Teddy to roll his eyes at the back of her head, and Samuel stepped past her to shake Teddy's hand too.

"Well there's always some, Mrs. Lupin." he said. "But it's the pixies that cause the most trouble, they breed like rabbits and trash the forest if we aren't careful with 'em." His gaze came to rest upon Carrie and though he clearly had no idea what she was doing there he offered her an equally bright smile, teeth surprisingly white given the rest of his slightly grubby appearance.

"This is Carrie." Remus supplied as the muggle gazed up at the tall young man, feeling rather self-conscious. "She's another pair of hands." \

"Hello..." Carrie mumbled, doing her very best to smile.

"Oh!" Samuel positively beamed. "You wait till I tell Pa, he'll be dead pleased! Speaking of which, we should probably get going, d'you remember the way?"

"I do." Remus said, and he and Dora began to lead the way down the path, leaving Samuel to talk to Carrie and Teddy.

"Did you do Care of Magical Creatures at school?" Samuel asked the muggle, and Carrie felt her cheeks redden, her gaze dropping to her shoes, watching the mud squelch underfoot.

"Actually," Teddy explained, offering his girlfriend a reassuring smile. "Carrie didn't go to Hogwarts. She's a muggle."

For a moment, Samuel looked quite stunned and Carrie found herself informing him quite defensively:

"But I do know how to use a shovel."

Samuel let out a shout of laughter.

"Well," he said, grinning once again. "That's summat, ain't it?"

Before long the trees gave way to a large clearing that was dotted with small, rounded hut-like buildings of wood and wattle, smoke drifting up from little chimneys in the centres of their roofs. Though small, the village was busy and bustling and as they went about their daily business the witches and wizards of the Six Sisters Vale stared at the newcomers quite curiously. Carrie couldn't help but feel that it ought be her staring at them, after all from the look of things she felt rather as though she had been transported back in time to the Middle Ages.

Samuel led them to a house on the edge of the village where the door had been left ajar and no sooner had Samuel bellowed for his father, a tall, broad shouldered man with Samuel's blonde hair and a slightly gingery beard stepped out into the cool afternoon air.

"Ah!" the burly man exclaimed, swatting his son sideways so that he could get a better look at his visitors. "And there was me thinkin' the beasts 'ad gotcha!"

"Sorry we're so late, Edwin." Remus said as the man reached to grasp him by the arm in greeting. "Escaping the Ministry on time is never easy."

"Think nothing of it, Remus." Edwin insisted, only to drop Remus' arm at the sight of the witch stood beside him, throwing his arms out towards her as he cried: "And 'ere she is! The lady 'erself!"

"Long time no see!" Dora greeted, and Carrie was quite astonished when Edwin took a large step forward, throwing his arms around the Auror and lifting her right off her feet.

"Married!" he cried, voice low and booming. "You two! Twenty years later and I still get stunned at the thought of it!" And then he gave a loud, barking laugh that entirely drowned out Dora's own chuckle.

"I must confess I hadn't imagined it last time we were both here." Remus said, and as he finally consented to setting Dora back down onto her feet, Edwin shook his head in disbelief.

"I thought that Luna Lovegood had well and truly lost it when she showed up that time and mentioned it over lunch! I thought of that odd pair who had stayed with me that time, spent half the time bickering about all sorts of nonsense and the other half hiding up trees and in bushes! Did I hear wedding bells? Merlin, no! Come, come inside all of you..."

The doorway of the house was low enough that Edwin had to duck, and as he followed suit Carrie heard Remus ask:

"Did you get my owl?"

"Oh yes!" Edwin exclaimed as he led the way into the a dimly lit sitting room, the wooden floor littered with mismatched rugs and armchairs set around an open fire that was crackling merrily, smoke drifting up towards a conveniently placed chimney above. "A muggle! The others are all very excited!" As Carrie shuffled across the threshold behind Samuel, she felt nerves clench at her stomach again when Edwin turned to look at her keenly. She felt a little better, however, when he smiled reassuringly and told her: "We've not had a muggle in our valley since the dawn o' time, I reckon! But there's plenty of work for muggles to do round 'ere, Miss, if you're that way inclined! We'd be glad of it, too!"

Along one wall of the room was a modest little kitchen and a number of doors led off of the main room, bedrooms Carrie supposed. A short, petite looking woman with a shock of frizzy, pale blonde hair tied in a messy knot at the back of her head appeared in a doorway, and Edwin introduced her as his wife, Neve.

"All ready in there, is it?" he asked the silent witch, who gave a rather stiff nod. "Good! When we heard you were bringing an extra one, I had Neve make up another bed."

As they levitated the suitcases into the appropriate bedrooms, Carrie found herself directed into the room that Neve had just left by Samuel.

"Ted's to share with me and you're to have Sable's room." the young man explained as the muggle shuffled into the little bedroom, which had little furniture save a large trunk in one corner, a multi-coloured stripy rug upon the floor and a bed that looked like no bed that Carrie had ever seen before. It was barely raised up from the ground, it's mattress so thin it seemed a waste, and in place of a duvet were blankets and...furs...

"It turns bitterly cold after dark." Samuel told her as she eyed the soft, rich throw, barely resisting the urge to run and throw herself down atop it.

By the time she had arranged her suitcase neatly between the trunk and the bed, before wandering back out into the living room, Carrie found that Edwin was already midway through whisking Remus and Dora off to see The Others. Seemingly half of the village was expecting them to pop in for a visit, and Carrie wondered quite what the couple had gotten up to last time they had been there to befriend such an enormous group of people. Apparently, judging from the frequent sideways glances at one another as they wandered back towards the front door, neither Remus nor Dora appeared to recognise a single name in the long list that Edwin was in the middle of reciting, but they smiled and nodded and feigned remarkable enthusiasm nevertheless. Edwin paused in the doorway to glance over his shoulder at Samuel, Teddy and Carrie and suggested:

"Why don't you take Ted over to the herd, Sam? I'll join you soon enough, and I expect Neve might find you a cup of tea, Carrie. I'll have a chat with someone in the morning, see if we can't find some work for you, but until then you best stay out of trouble. Have a walk about the village, if you like."

"We won't be long, Carrie love. You'll be alright, won't you?" Dora asked as she reached to tuck her hand into the crook of Remus' arm, and once Carrie had swallowed the lump in her throat with a nod, Teddy had leant to press a kiss to the muggle's cheek with a grin before following the others out of the door.

And so it was that Carrie was left alone with Neve, who sat her down and offered her a cup of tea and a large slab of fruit cake. Edwin's wife was a very quietly spoken witch and Carrie found her quite a relief after Edwin's booming tones. Neve had never met a muggle before, she said, and she seemed to find Carrie utterly fascinating for she set about asking countless questions about the Muggle World. For a time Carrie was entirely happy to answer them, it was nice to have something of interest to say to this stranger who was lending her a bed for a week. But after a time she began to wish that the others would return, or that she might at least escape the questions because highlighting the differences between muggles and wizards was doing very little for her nerves, nor her self confidence. Once she had finished her cake and Neve had set about tidying away their plates, cups and saucers, Carrie excused herself from the house and went for a wander out in the village.

She walked along the outskirts, not keen to draw attention to herself, and stood for a while by a tree, watching a witch peg out an assortment of rugs that looked much like those in Edwin's house out to dry upon a washing line. Despite feeling shy of the people around her, Carrie had to admit that the only place that she had thought more delightful and magical than this valley was Hogwarts Castle. Despite the hustle and bustle of the villagers going about their business, she could clearly hear birdsong, a vast variety of different chirps and whistles, and if she listened carefully she could even hear the trickling of running water.

Carrie turned to gaze searchingly towards the source of the sound, her back to the village as she squinted through the trees. The forest was misty, mysteriously inviting and she could not see a great distance, and for a while she stood, chewing her lip in consideration.

She could venture into the forest, she decided, if she was careful. If she didn't go far, if she kept the village in sight...

She crept forward through the grass, as if she might disturb the trees around her, glancing back over her shoulder at the village every few steps, as if it might disappear into thin air if she kept her back turned. It was better to be safe than sorry, she thought to herself, because after all, stranger things had happened...

Sudden movement in a tree she was passing caused the muggle to freeze, and she looked up just in time to see a small bird swoop down out of the branches. It dipped so low in the air that it very nearly brushed the top of her head, and she failed to let out a little gasp of surprise. The bird fluttered off through the trees towards the sound of the water, and Carrie set off after it, watching as it flitted from tree to tree, twittering cheerfully as it went. So focused on watching it's progression was she that Carrie completely forgot to keep an eye upon the village behind her, and she wandered forward, still following the bird for several minutes until at long last she found the source of the running water. A stream was winding it's way through the trees ahead of her, and as she found herself smiling at her little discovery, Carrie watched the bird swoop down to land upon the opposite bank, hopping carefully along the water's edge, pecking at the stony ground.

Carrie found herself holding her breath a little so as not to startle the creature, and as she crept up to the waters' edge, dropping down into a crouch upon the ground, she got her first clear look at the bird.

It was a robin. She had been hoping for something perhaps a little more magical, but nevertheless Carrie thought it an awfully pretty little thing, and as she leant forward, careful not to lose her balance, the muggle wet her lips and let out a little whistle in greeting. She expected the animal to take flight in alarm, but to her surprise it turned to stare directly at her and, after a moment, let out a little whistle of it's own.

Carrie simply stared in surprise.

The robin stared right back at her, and so she drew in another careful breath and let out another whistle.

The bird whistled back.

Smiling to herself, Carrie leant forward, squinting at the bird again.

Perhaps it was magical, she thought to herself. After all she had never seen a bird act quite like it. She whistled again, just to be sure, and sure enough the bird drew back it's little head, puffing out it's bright orange chest, and let out an enthusiastic little warble of it's own.

Leaning even further forward, Carrie drew breath to whistle again, only for it to turn into an abrupt little shriek of horror as she felt the rocky soil beneath her crumbling away into the water. Arms flailing in a vain attempt to find something to grab hold of, the muggle caught the briefest glance of the robin fluttering off into the air before icy cold engulfed her with a splash as she went face-first into the water.

The urge to gasp in panic was overwhelming and as she screwed her eyes tightly shut at the choking water shooting down her throat, Carrie tried with all her might not to panic.

She could swim. She could swim quite well, she had gotten all of her badges for swimming at primary school, and it wasn't a deep stream, it wasn't that deep...

And yet..._sweet Merlin, the current!_

Carrie strained against the fast flow of water, desperately trying to reach the surface, but it seemed to her that the more she struggled the further away the fresh air above seemed to be. Water weeds were tangling about her increasingly feeble kicking legs, her lungs were burning in protest and had she had a terrible, drawn out second to think of it, Carrie would have thought that she had never felt more painfully cold in her whole entire life. The icy water was holding her prisoner, shooting up her nostrils, making the muscles in her limbs feel stiff...useless...

And it was useless, Carrie thought as she felt sharp pebbles scratching at her arms as she tried in vain to push herself away from the murky bottom of the stream. It was completely useless...

And she was alone. Entirely alone. Even the bird had flown away and there was nobody to help her, nobody to save her...

And it was at that precise moment, as she jerked her head sideways away from the water weeds, only to feel pain blossom on her forehead as she struck it upon a craggy rock jutting out from the bank, that Carrie Winters could help but think:

_This is the most beautiful place that I've ever seen._

_And I'm going to die in it._


	4. Wicked Soul

_Note: **Happy Birthday Sam!** I've climbed out form underneath the avalanche of University project deadlines, halted beta-reading (sorry **Rita**!) and shunned the fact that I'm ill with tonsillitis to finish this chapter for you in time! I only hope you think it's worthwhile...even if it didn't turn out the way I told you it would, and even if it is lacking an appearance from "your" Samuel, AND even if it isn't as epic in length as the chapter before it! _

_I hope everybody else enjoys this chapter too! I'm sorry it has taken me such a long time to update! I can't say things will get any speeder any time soon, but thank you for being patient with me!_

_I've just noticed how many exclamation marks are in this note...! Here is a less excitable and far more sane sentence for you all:_

_Remus' mention of Mildred and her mirror in this chapter is a reference to **Meet the Muggles, **for those of you unfamiliar with the earlier Meet the... stories. _

_**This chapter contains spoilers** for the previous stories in this series. **Consider yourselves warned!**_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**4: Wicked Soul**

It was funny thing, Carrie Winters thought vaguely, drowning in ice. The numbness was oddly soothing, the watery world seemed to grow slow, more surreal as the oxygen seeped from her lungs in precious little bubbles from her nose...

It was terrifyingly calm, once the initial panic was over, once resignation began to sink in. The current tossed her from side to side, her head bouncing off the rocks, the blows shooting shockingly sharp pain through her skull, fresh little spasms of panic amongst the cool, steadily crushing current.

And despite herself, Carrie found herself wondering:

What in Merlin's name was Dora going to say, once they had fished her lifeless body out of the water and taken it back to the village?

Probably: _Bloody typical!_

Carrie could practically hear it, clear as day amongst the chilling aqua.

And then there was Remus: _I told you so, didn't I?_

Then, quite naturally, Dora again: _Don't be such a smug git..._

Suddenly a mass of bubbles exploded into life as something plunged into the water behind her, and Carrie very nearly gasped a fresh gulp of water into her lungs as she felt a pair of arms lock around her middle. Before she knew it, she was being wrenched free from the current's freezing grasp, up towards the surface, towards air...

She broke the surface and promptly gasped for breath, coughing and spluttering as her anonymous rescuer hurled her back towards the bank. Overwhelming relief washed over her as she finally flopped down upon solid land, eyes screwed shut and panting. She was vaguely aware of somebody collapsing down beside her, but she was far too exhausted to look round. There she lay for several long minutes, in petrified shock, until the shivering took a hold of her and she finally dragged herself up into a sitting position, turning to look down at her saviour.

He was long limbed, skinny young man with a rather pointy chin and bright, dark eyes that gazed up at the muggle. He appeared to have shed a few layers of clothes in preparation for his icy plunge, bare chest rising and falling rapidly as she stared down at him. Reaching to sweep a hand across the long hair that had become plastered to his head, the young man managed a rather breathless smile as he murmured:

"Hello..."

Carrie gawped at him quite stupidly for a long moment, rather taken aback by this very ordinary greeting, before mumbling:

"Um...hi..."

The young man set about scrambling to his feet, reaching to snatch up a discarded shirt. As he set about pulling it on, Carrie felt compelled to add:

"Thank...thank you, for...for that..."

"You're welcome." he mumbled, pausing in his dressing to peer down at her again, cheeks tinging pink. Carrie wasn't sure if this was from cold or embarrassment at his heroics. His apparent modesty made the muggle grin.

She got carefully to her feet, frowning at her throbbing head and reaching to wipe her damp hands somewhat unsuccessfully on her sodden jeans, before offering him her hand.

"I'm Carrie." she told him, beaming up at him gratefully. "Carrie Winters, I'm...I'm here on holiday...sort of."

He eyed her hand shyly for a moment, before consenting to shaking it.

"Hello Carrie...my name's Kit. Kit Carter."

"Nice to meet you." Carrie said, watching as he went back to buttoning up his shirt. "Lucky, even! If you hadn't of spotted me, I'm sure I would have drowned to death!" she gave a rather embarrassed chuckle, gaze dropping to her soggy shoes as she mumbled: "That's me all over, I'm afraid...accident prone..."

"Happens to the best of us." Kit Carter assured her kindly, stooping to retrieve a worn corded jacket. "Here, you'll catch your death!" As he reached to throw the garment around her shoulders, Carrie felt her cheeks warming, and she was just mumbling thanks when a soft tapping noise caught her attention, and she turned to squint searchingly back into the water towards the source of the sound.

"Oh no!" she cried, dropping into a crouch and pointing at the small, furiously spinning object that was bobbing up and down in the water. "My sneakoscope!"

Kit stepped up beside her, expression despairing as he looked down into the water.

"Oh dear..." the young man murmured as the muggle gingerly reached forward towards the water, only to think better of it.

"It was a present!" Carrie complained, teeth gritted in frustration. "I've only had it a few days! Do you think we could fish it out or...or something?"

"I'm not sure it'll do any good." Kit admitted, deeply apologetic. "Look at it spinning – water must've gotten into it, made it go haywire..."

"Well I'll...I'll get Remus to...to fix it for me..." Carrie mumbled, daring to lean forward a little again, only for Kit to stoop and reach to grab hold of her by the elbow.

"Careful!" he exclaimed as her shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Come on, I'm sure you can get a new one! Besides, we best get you inside, your lips are turning blue! You'll freeze to death if you stay out here any longer!"

Teeth chattering with cold, Carrie reluctantly allowed him to pull her back onto her feet, and the two of them set off through the trees, pace stiff and stumbling.

"That was terribly brave of you," Carrie mumbled with a sniff, gaze upon her soggy shoes, "jumping into the water like that." When Kit merely gave a modest little chuckle, she insisted: "No really, it was!"

"Well I don't suppose I could have just left you to drown, could I?" he mumbled as she adjusted the jacket around her shoulders. "I expect it would have ruined Mr. and Mrs. Lupin's holiday if I had." He glanced across at her with a warm, friendly smile, a stray droplet of water trickling down his forehead and onto the bridge of his nose. For the briefest of seconds Carrie found herself tempted to reach up and brush it off of him.

"You are here with them, aren't you?" he went on as she gave herself a rather appalled little shake at her own thoughts, managing to pass it off as a rather violent shiver. "You must be, they're the only visitors we're expecting...the only ones in years, even. Everybody's been talking about them for weeks you know, the whole village, my uncle says. Everybody knows about them...even people like me..."

Carrie was just about to ask who precisely _people like him_ were, when they finally stumbled out of the trees and he came to an abrupt halt.

"Well," he said, turning to face her. "Here we are then."

"Yes...here we are." Carrie agreed, staring up at him inquiringly. She wasn't entirely sure why they had stopped walking.

"You better hurry inside and find a fire." Kit said as the door to one of the little cottages just up the path opened. "Get yourself dried off."

"Oh..." Carrie glanced sideways back towards Edwin's cottage. Though it was just a short distance from the edge of the woods to the front door, she felt somewhat daunted at the prospect of walking there alone. Her head was pounding and sore, her limbs stiff and frozen, she felt distinctly unsteady...

"I...I don't suppose..." she began to mumble. "You might...well...um..."

"SWEET MERLIN, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?"

At the shrill voice sounding from a cottage doorway, Carrie spun around to spy a figure hurrying down the ramshackle garden path. The tubby, aged witch with a mass of curly grey hair and flushed pink cheeks paused as she reached the main pathway, eyes wide in horror as she stared at the drenched pair in horror.

"It's...it's nothing like that, Mrs. Garton, honest..." Kit began to protest half-heartedly, only for the witch to shriek:

"WICKED BOY!"

"She fell in the stream, Mrs. Garton!" Kit explained, shuffling his feet nervously. "I...I only pulled her out, it's true..."

"WICKED LITTLE LIAR!" Mrs. Garton cried, reaching to grasp fistfuls of hair in distress, and as Kit hang his head with a flinch at the accusation and doors up and down the road began to open, villagers peering outside to see what the shouting was all about, Carrie was suddenly distracted by the sound of hurried footsteps to their right, and when she spotted the witch and wizard who were hurrying towards her she let out a sudden little sob of relief at the sight of them.

At the sight of the pale, distinctly blue-tinged muggle drenched from head to toe and trembling like a leaf, Dora Lupin's pace faltered somewhat and she failed to suppress a loud exclamation of:

"Merlin's balls!"

As he too took a double take at the sight before him, her husband admitted:

"Couldn't have put it better myself..."

And with that, the two of them sprung into action. Within the blink of an eye they had both shrugged off their cloaks and before Carrie could do much else beside sob somewhat shamefully at her predicament, they had practically apparated to her side, Dora had flung both the cloaks and a firm arm about her shoulders, and Remus had reached into his pocket to extract his wand.

Carrie promptly collapsed with a shudder against Dora's shoulder, face contorting woefully as she garbled:  
>"I...I...I'm so sorry, I just...the steam...it was so sudden and..."<p>

"You're alright, Carrie love." Dora insisted, rubbing a reassuring hand vigorously across the muggle's shoulders in a somewhat vain attempt to warm her. The witch glanced sideways, apparently spotting Kit for the first time despite the persistent shouting from Mrs. Garton, and greeted: "Well would you look at you, Kit Carter! D'you like to take a paddle too?"

Kit let out a nervous little chuckle, only for a familiar voice to shout:

"I'd keep 'er well away from the likes of that one if I were you!"

As Carrie, Dora and Remus turned to spot Edwin stood by his front door, arms folded firmly across his chest, Kit took a visible step backwards. There was a distinctly awkward pause, before Dora cleared her throat purposefully and, despite Edwin's glowering, asked Kit:

"You dragged Carrie out of the water, did you?"

"Yes Mrs. Lupin." Kit mumbled, face ashen from Edwin's hostile eyes upon him.

"Then you're a fine young man, Kit Carter. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise, d'you hear?"

"Yes Mrs. Lupin." Kit murmured obediently, gaze fixated on his feet. It seemed to Carrie that his trembling was from more than just the cold, and he gave a startled jump when Remus stepped up in front of him.

"Hands out, Kit." the werewolf instructed, wand raised, and Carrie blinked a little in surprise a moment later when, with a sharp flick of Remus' wand, bright blue flames burst into life in the palms of Kit's hands. Carrie could feel the warmth from the flickering fire, and yet Kit's hands appeared entirely unaffected by the apparent heat.

"Thank you, Mr. Lupin." Kit murmured, daring a grateful glance up at the werewolf, and upon seeing an increasingly large crowd of villagers gathering outside of their front doors to stare at him, the young man turned abruptly on his heel and dashed back into the trees.

"Goodness, whatever happened to those knee-high little boys who used to run around the village and get themselves into trouble?" Dora wondered as Remus conjured a fresh burst of sapphire fire, which Carrie allowed him somewhat gingerly to pour into her hands. "Honestly, little Kit Carter and Sammy Rhodes...look at them now!"

"Look at them now indeed." Remus muttered somewhat darkly, gazing into the wood with a deep frown, and Dora sighed heavily and murmured:

"What an ugly business..." The Auror gave herself a little shake, grip upon Carrie's shoulder tightening. "Come along then, Carrie love! Quickly now, you're a right state..."

Carrie found herself dried off, plied with an odd mixture of cocoa and foul tasting potion, before being tucked firmly up in bed with an extra later of furs and a hot water bottle. As Dora and Neve fussed and muttered over the bumps and bruises upon her head, the muggle found herself feeling overwhelmingly sleepy, and despite the countless questions and confusion about the "ugly business" and confrontations back outside, she quickly fell into a deep and wonderfully warm slumber. By the time she finally stirred from her sleep, the sun was setting in great streams of pink and orange between the trees outside her bedroom window, and the muggle rose carefully from her bed, hugging a blanket about her shoulders as she wandered towards the door that had been left ajar. Feeling somewhat shy after the day's escapades, she paused to squint out into the main room, where she spied Remus and Dora lounging upon the sofa, the witch's legs dangling over the edge of one arm and her head resting against the werewolf's shoulder. Edwin and his family were nowhere to be seen. Teddy was lying sprawled upon a rug by the fire, toying with the half-empty bottle of wine that his parents were midway through drinking.

"I don't see why!" the youngest Lupin was complaining, frowning deeply and tapping his fingers absent-mindedly against the glass bottle. "It's been hours!"

"She might very well have _died_, Ted." Remus reminded him flatly, causing Teddy to visibly flinch. "Leave her to sleep the whole day away if she needs to."

Dora took a generous gulp of wine from her glass, before scowling up at the ceiling and exclaiming:

"Bloody typical!"

"I told you so, didn't I?" her husband said, wincing a little when she shifted so abruptly to look round at him that she very nearly sloshed wine into his lap.

"Don't be such a smug git!" the Auror snapped, and when Remus sniggered at her she scrambled up into a sitting position so that she could more easily slap him rebukingly upon the arm. "It's not bloody funny!" she insisted, and the werewolf's expression grew gravely serious and he murmured:

"Of course it's not, darling. There's absolutely nothing funny about it."

Carrie was about to feel quite relieved at Dora's defence when the witch entirely ruined everything by collapsing back against Remus' shoulder in a poor attempt to stifle a sudden bout of giggling.

"You two are utterly wicked." Teddy informed his parents, setting the bottle down so that he could fold his arms firmly across his chest. "I don't see what's so funny about Carrie almost dying!"

"You're not a whole lot better, you know." Dora told him indigently. "Look at how you and Dad laugh at me when I fall down the stairs! I could break bones...!"

"You _have_ broken bones."

"Exactly! What's funny about that? Nothing!"

Teddy opened his mouth to protest, only to promptly close it again.

"There are a whole lot of things in life that aren't funny, Teddy." Remus murmured, gazing into the crackling fire before them. "But we have to laugh at some of them. If we didn't we'd spend half out lives crying instead." He glanced sideways just in time to see Dora draining her glass, prompting him to add: "And then of course alcohol has a habit of fuelling your mother's amusement of the macabre."

"Shut up, Remus." Dora instructed briskly as she reached to set her glass down upon the small coffee table. "Besides, I think you'll find that you're the one who suggested wine before dinner."

Remus reached to wrap an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him as he announced cheerily:

"We're on holiday!"

"Mm...yes we are!" Dora agreed, leaning to press a kiss to his cheek. "Good job, Sweetheart."

"Let's just hope dinner isn't awkward at all after earlier." Remus mused, twirling a stray strand of stray pink hair around his finger, and before Dora could mumble a response Teddy had sat up, gaze upon the pair curious.

"Why would it be awkward?" he asked, and his mother scowled at his curiosity. "Because of Carrie?"

"No, not Carrie..." Dora muttered, tone suddenly dark.

"Or because of Kit Carter?" Teddy went on, only for Remus to tell him:

"We don't mention Kit Carter, Ted. Not whilst we're guests in this house."

"Why not?" Teddy asked, more curious than ever, and when his parents merely exchanged a glance, he told them: "Samuel says we should keep clear of Kit Carter. He says he's got a...a wicked soul..."

"Well he would do, wouldn't he?" Dora muttered disapprovingly. "Utter bollocks if you ask me..."

"Nobody is asking you." Remus interrupted, and his wife sounded vaguely offended when she asked:

"You don't believe what they say about him, do you?"

"I don't know." Remus murmured, frowning deeply. "It seems...unlikely, I suppose. But what do we know? We've not been here since before it happened..."

"Since before what happened?" Teddy asked, utterly bemused, and Remus sighed heavily, reaching to rub a hand across his eyes.

"There's an old legend about this village," Dora said, voice dropping to little more than a whisper, "goes back centuries, the villagers all used to believe it was true."

"What legend?" Teddy whispered, leaning forward eagerly, and the witch told him:

"They used to say there was some sort of monster...an evil soul, they used to call it, that roamed around the woods."

"Cool..." Teddy muttered, only for Remus to mutter:

"It is isn't it? Just like Mildred and her mirror..."

"Supposedly it used to snatch children out of the woods surrounding the village." Dora went on, ignoring Teddy's shudder.

"Virgin maids, if I recall correctly." Remus mused, and Dora gave a rather sleepy nod and agreed:

"That's right, _virgin maids to possess_...very Medieval! That's where the tradition of sending their daughters to Hogwarts came from. Boys get educated at home and taught about the wildlife, and girls go away to Hogwarts to keep them safe from possession by the monster."

"What about the summer holidays?" Teddy wondered with a frown, to which his mother shrugged and muttered:

"Pot luck." Shifting closer against Remus' side the witch added: "But that's just a legend, obviously...or that's what everybody used to think."

"But now they think it's real?"

"Very much so." Remus sighed, gaze back upon the fire. "It's been like that ever since what happened to Sable."

"Poor girl..." Dora whispered despairingly, reaching to hug Remus' arm to her. "Lovely, she was. Bright as a button."

"Edwin and Neve had a second child, a daughter named Sable." Remus explained, eyes darting towards the front door as if worried he might be overheard. "She was just a little younger than Samuel and the two of them were inseparable. When she was eleven, so Edwin told me, Sable begged and pleaded with her parents not to send her away to Hogwarts. She wanted to stay at home and be home schooled with her brother. Edwin and Neve decided to break with tradition, because by then it was tradition rather than a precaution, and Sable declined her place at Hogwarts and stayed in the village. Then, one day when Sable was sixteen or so, she told her father she was going out into the woods to fetch wood for the fire...and she didn't come back."

"They found her after a few hours..." Dora recalled reluctantly. "Lying by the stream, stone dead. It was a terrible sight, she was very nearly naked and covered in bruises. The Ministry concluded she'd likely been strangled to death."

"They say Sable had been acting oddly for quite some time before she went missing that day, that she'd been quite vacant, distant from the rest of the family."

"Like she'd been bewitched."

"And so the villagers concluded the evil soul in the woods was responsible."

"But Edwin thought it had something to do with Sable's boyfriend, Kit Carter. He thought she'd been acting strangely ever since the two of them had gotten together..."

"And that's how the village came to shun poor Kit. The two accusations got twisted and blurred as time went on, until Edwin had the whole village convinced! They think Kit is the monster. They think he's got a wicked soul."

"But there's no evidence that Kit did anything wrong. Edwin wrote to the Ministry repeatedly asking them to go other the case files again, but they've stopped writing back."

"Still, the villagers don't care what the Ministry has to say." Remus concluded, sighing heavily. "There's not a word that can convince them that Kit's harmless. Especially not Edwin, he's gotten himself entirely convinced."

"Poor man..." Dora murmured, shaking her head, and her gaze upon Teddy grew suddenly piercing as she told him: "It's a tragic and terrible thing, Ted, and the family have never quite gotten over it! Whatever you do, don't mention a word about it, alright?"

"Of course not..." Teddy mumbled, and Carrie shuffled back from the door, turning to gaze around the bedroom.

Sable's bedroom...

Goodness, the muggle thought, hugging the blanket more tightly around her shoulders. She wasn't entirely sure what to make of Remus and Dora's little story, what to think about Kit Carter and the villagers who had turned against him...

He certainly hadn't seemed like the sort of boy who would do something as horrible and ghastly as committing murder! How Edwin and the others could assume such a thing was quite beyond her...

But then Carrie remembered Remus' recalling of Mildred Marchbrook and her mirror, and she reminded herself that not everything or indeed everybody was quite what they first seem.

Carrie gave a little shudder, only to comfort herself at the thought of Dora's assessment of the situation:

_Utter bollocks if you ask me!_

And Dora and Remus were precisely the people that Carrie _would_ ask. Their judgements of people and situations were golden as far as the muggle was concerned. They were very good at spotting what was trouble and what was nonsense.

Back when Carrie had been at secondary school it had taken Remus all of a second to conclude that the legend surrounding the Mirror of Mildred Marchbrook was complete and utter rubbish, and later it had taken him just a few minutes longer to glance at Carrie's letters and realise that Mildred was in fact trouble of the highest order.

And he couldn't have been more right.

As for Dora, no manner of hearsay or gossip could dissuade her from making her own judgements about people; and quite frankly if she could have the paranoid tendencies of Mad-Eye Moody bellowed repeatedly in her ear on a daily basis for half a decade or more, and _still_ think somebody trustworthy, Carrie couldn't help but feel that the person in question was likely to be exactly that.

As for Edwin and the other villagers, Carrie couldn't help but feel that they were by no means bad people either. Grief was an awful, awful thing, the muggle recalled, and it had a habit of making people behave irrationally, unreasonably. Grief had driven Carrie herself to say the most terrible things in the past, she recalled, and she wouldn't judge others for behaving in a similar fashion.

She felt a little uneasy, stood in the dead girl's bedroom, and so she wandered out to join the trio in the sitting room, feeling quite relieved at their casual greetings and lack of comment upon her earlier antics. Indeed, Remus and Dora seemed much too preoccupied with squabbling over the latter's attempts to steal the remainder of the former's glass of wine. As Carrie dropped down upon the rug at Teddy's side and the youngest Lupin reached to wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, the squabbling abruptly shifted from minor fidgeting to something bordering on small scale warfare, as Dora abandoned her feeble tugging upon her husband's sleeve and resorted to lunging sideways at him, hand making a mad snatch towards the wine glass as she let out a small shriek of laughter. Remus managed to hold the glass just out of her reach and she only succeeded in collapsing in a sniggering heap in his lap.

"It's good wine...!" the werewolf teased, about to take a victorious sip of the precious liquid, only to provoke a fresh attack from the witch who managed to seize hold of him somewhat brutally by the wrist...

Carrie flinched in anticipation and sure enough within seconds the glass slipped from Remus' grasp, splashing crimson wine up into the air before hitting the floor with a crash. The couple instantly froze, she still grasping hold of him by the wrist, and as wine trickled down her chin, accumulating in a vibrant stein upon the front of her blouse, Dora paused to lick the liquid from her lips before exclaiming:

"Oh shit! Look what you've done now..."

"What I've done? What I'VE done..."

As the bickering began anew, amid Dora's struggling to simultaneously mop the wine from herself and retrieve her wand, which Remus promptly prised from her pocket and threw over the back of the sofa, Teddy observed his parents' childish antics with a look of deep exasperation and, reaching to take hold of his girlfriend by the hand, suggested:

"We should probably leave them to, it before it becomes any more violent and Dad breaks a hip...or worse, before it goes the other way..."

Carrie allowed him to help her to her feet, and the two of them made a beeline for the bedroom door. Teddy reached to push the door shut behind them, muffling his mother mid-cry of: _I can't believe you just did that!_, before turning to face Carrie, leaning back against the door.

"Mental..." the wizard concluded, shaking his head, and Carrie sniggered, glancing self-consciously down at her shoes as she admitted:

"I like it...I mean it's nice..." Shifting her feet she added: "That I've not ruined their day or...or something..."

Teddy took a small step forward, reaching to take her hands in his.

"Oh I shouldn't worry about ruining Mum and Dad's anything, Sweetheart." he assured her, smiling reassuringly. "They've had far too much practice, they take anything crazy or dangerous you manage to conjure up in their stride. You don't scare or traumatise them. Not even if you try to die of hypothermia."

As he leant to press a kiss to her forehead, Carrie found herself smiling in embarrassment.

"What about you?" she wondered, drawing his hands forward until he could settle them upon her hips. "Are you an unshakable rock too?"

Teddy puffed his cheeks in exasperation, burying his face in her hair.

"Merlin, no!" the metamorphmagus groaned, crushing the muggle against his chest in a suddenly vice-like hold. "You've scared me half to death today...again! I swear, my precious little danger magnet, one of these days you're going to be the death of me!"

And as she threw her arms tightly around him, face blooming pink in embarrassment at this new nickname, Carrie Winters had absolutely no idea that, despite her boyfriend's melodramatic exclamation, she was indeed going to find that one day soon she might be the death of _someone_...


	5. Bad Blood

_Note: So, having gotten distracted by making a new avatar (because as a post production student having one you made on Microsoft Paint at the age of about 15 is just unacceptable!) and also having had a sudden recurrence of LOTR obsessiveness (which hasn't really worn off yet, actually), I've finally written this chapter!_

_I'm not terribly pleased with how this story is going, it's being rather slow and boring, but please bear with me! After all, this isn't such a frantic story as Meet the Order of the Phoenix was, the pace generally is a bit slower. There is a lot of important backstory here! But hopefully it is interesting and the story will speed up at least a little before you all get horribly bored and start flaming me to a cinder...please try to avoid flaming me, because that would be nice! :-)_

_**There are spoilers for Meet the Marauders in this chapter! Consider yourselves warned!**_

_For anybody who has not noticed, the first ever Meet the... oneshot has now been posted. It is entitled **Meet the Malfoys**, since that was a popular name in the last name-a-fic poll. Speaking of polls, there's yet another one up because I got bored...! _

_And speaking of fics, specifically Meet the... fics, I can now admit to having relatively solid plans/promising sounding plot bunnies for two more stories after this. I've even written the first half of a chapter for one of them...who knows when I will ever get round to writing them, however! We could be talking years!_

_It is now officially the Christmas Holidays, and besides applying for my final year of university I have very little work to do! So, with any luck I might just update a little more often!_

_Naturally, this 'fic is dedicated to **PoppiiD**, for prodding me into updating again. It is also dedicated to **Tonks23**, for being a new face, and for writing such a glowing and shiny review for the previous chapter that I grinned like a madwoman whilst reading it upon the train, possibly mentally scarring a fellow commuter or two in the process. So, hello to you, thanks very much and I hope you, and everybody else for that matter, enjoys this chapter!_

_Epically long note over with, here goes nothing..._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

**5: Bad Blood**

Despite rising early the next morning, fully prepared to be presented with a pile of dung and a shovel, and feeling surprisingly excited about it too, Carrie found the breakfast table entirely void of life.

The muggle shuffled over towards the table, eying the plate piled high with toast, the enormous steaming teapot and assorted bowl of fruit, before dropping down into the nearest chair. She was just wondering where everybody else had gotten to and musing that it really was eerily quiet when a sudden shriek of laughter coming from one of the bedrooms very nearly made her jump out of her skin.

Carrie twisted in her chair to look towards the source of the noise, just in time to see a door being flung open to reveal a rainbow-haired Dora, dressed in an over-sized bottle green dressing gown. The witch seemingly didn't catch sight of Carrie straight away, for she immediately turned to look back into the room, exclaiming:

"What is this, anyway? A re-enactment or something?"

"Oh very funny..." Remus' voice said, not sounding amused in the slightest. "Now for Merlin's sake give me back my dressing gown before I catch my death!"

Dora seemingly chose to ignore this request, for she let out another shout of laughter, spinning back around, at last catching sight of the muggle sat at the table.

"Morning, Carrie love!" the witch half-sang, positively grinning as she sauntered across the room towards the table. She was just reaching to snatch up a piece of toast when her husband called:

"Dora...!"

"What?" the Auror shot over her shoulder, utterly exasperated.

"Seriously, give it back, I can't feel my fingers!"

"Bloody wimp!" Dora grumbled, face contorting into a scowl. "Lucky thing it was Kit by the river yesterday, isn't it Carrie?" she commented loudly as she set off back towards the bedroom. "Left it up to Remus and you'd probably have drowned to death; he can't even take a luke-warm shower without succumbing to frostbite..." She paused in the doorway and set about shrugging off the dressing gown to reveal some alarmingly bright pink pair of pyjamas. As she hurled the dressing gown across the threshold and into the room, Remus threatened:

"Come a bit closer and say that!"

Dora merely stuck her tongue at him.

"Like that, would you?" she began, only to apparently think better of it and suggest: "Cup of tea, Sweetheart?"

"Please." came the equally sober response, and Carrie decided to busy herself with a trio of cups and saucers, her cheeks tinged pink. As Dora dropped down into a chair opposite her, the muggle greeted:

"Morning Dora."

"Alright, love? Did you sleep well?"

"Like a log."

"Ah, well that's cleansing draught for you."

As she reached for the milk jug and Dora busied herself with the teapot, Carrie shuddered. The large glassful of cleansing draught that the Auror had practically threatened to force down her throat the previous night before bed had been one of the most revolting substances that Carrie had ever come across. Worse still was the fact that she truly hadn't felt unwell in the slightest! She had been convinced that she didn't need any more medicine.

Unluckily enough, both Dora and Remus seemed to have been convinced otherwise. Apparently, Dora had explained in such a melodramatic tone that Carrie had practically snatched the glassful of potion out of her hand and downed it in one, looks could be extremely deceiving. The rivers in the valley contained all manner of bacteria and magical bugs that could be downright fatal to those whose bodies had not built up a resistance to them.

_You might just die if you don't drink this potion_, the witch had concluded impatiently, not amused to spend near on half an hour of her evening squabbling with the teenager, and Remus had instantly scolded her for scare-mongering.

Nevertheless, Carrie had drunk the foul mixture without further complaint, and it had left her feeling a little light-headed and very sleepy.

Indeed, it made Carrie wonder if she really had managed to wake up as bright and early as she had first thought.

"What time is it?" she wondered as she splashed milks into the cups, before pushing them over so that Dora could pour the tea.

"Mm...ten thirty?" the witch estimated, before pursing her lips together in concentration so as not to splash tea onto the table.

"Ten thirty?"

"Yep."

Carrie felt a disappointed sinking feeling in her chest.

"I thought it was closer to seven." she mumbled somewhat dejectedly, and as she set the teapot back down upon the table, Dora gave a disbelieving snort.

"Seven! Sweet Merlin no, you won't see me up that early! I'll have a lie in thank you very much!"

"Well yes but you always say seven IS a lie in for you...when you've been up for work at five, I mean..."

The Auror scowled accusingly at the toast she was smearing with a generous coating of strawberry jam.

"That's not a real lie in, Carrie love." she said as movement behind them announced Remus' exit from the bedroom. "I just like to tell myself that so that my job seems a little less crap."

"Looks as though they managed to drag Teddy out of bed bright and early." Remus said as he took a seat at his wife's side. "I wonder how in Merlin's name they managed it!"

"We'll have to ask them what their secret is." Dora said, setting down the knife. "Could come in handy back home."

"I thought they were going to drag me out of bed too." Carrie confessed, still disappointed, and as the witch took a generous bite of jam on toast, she announced:

"Nope. You're in no state for work, love."

Carrie let out a disbelieving huff as she reached to select a slice of toast of her own.

"That's ridiculous!" she complained. "There's nothing wrong with me! I feel absolutely fine, I've taken that silly medicine..."

"You've taken _half_ of that silly medicine." Remus corrected, smiling apologetically at the look of pure indignation that materialized upon the girl's face. "You've another dose to take before we finally let you off the hook."

"Cheer up, Carrie love!" Dora insisted brightly as the muggle slumped miserably in her chair. "Take it after breakfast and you'll be fit as a fiddle this afternoon!"  
>"What am I going to do all morning?" Carrie wondered, frowning accusingly at her cup of tea. "I'll be all groggy and horrible..."<p>

"Well you won't be wandering off on your own, that's for sure." Dora announced, sounding far too cheerful as far as the muggle was concerned. "If you can fall into a river whilst entirely potion-free, Merlin only knows what you'll get up to with a dose of cleansing draught in you. Worse for the head than fire whiskey, that stuff is."

"Great." Carrie grumbled. "I'll just sit here and wait for it to wear off, then."

"Don't sulk." the witch instructed briskly, which only made the muggle scowl until she added: "Besides, you don't have to stay cooped up in here all morning. You can come out with us, if you fancy it."

Carrie instantly brightened.

"I do fancy it!" she exclaimed, straightening in her chair eagerly. "Where are we going?"

Husband and wife exchanged a rather long glance, apparently not entirely prepared for this sudden addition to their plans for the day, and Carrie felt her enthusiasm falter a little, he cheeks tinging pink. Surely, she thought as Remus paused in chewing a mouthful of toast, they already had plans, plans that didn't involve her. It was their holiday, after all. And of course they would offer to take her out, just like they had offered to bring her along to the Vale in the first place...

"Or I could stay here..." she mumbled hurriedly. "I mean...if...if you already had...had plans or something..."

"We're going...up to the stone circle." Remus decided, entirely ignoring her, and Dora grinned widely and declared:  
>"Excellent. Fresh air'll do Carrie good!"<p>

Despite their enthusiasm, Carrie continued to feel a little awkward as they finished their breakfast. Both Lupins appeared oblivious to her awkwardness, either that or they chose to ignore it, and before long Carrie found herself downing another disgusting dose of potion before they three of them donned coat and cloaks and headed out into the chilly morning air.

Carrie trailed along just behind the couple as they led the way, arm in arm towards the edge of the village clearing. A cool breeze blew the hair back from her face, and as she began to feel the groggy effects of the cleansing draught take a hold of her senses the slight chill to the air was welcome relief.

"So..." she began a few minutes later as they reached the cover of the trees. "What's this stone circle all ab..."

The muggle was abruptly cut off mid-sentence as she felt her foot catch upon a tree root, and before she could do little more than let out a little shriek of alarm she tripped, landing amongst the leaves with a muffled grunt of pain. There was a sizeable pause and as she slowly lifted her head from the ground, spitting the dirt from her lips, Carrie heard Dora mutter:

"Bloody potion..."

"You can talk." Remus muttered back, and with that the two of them each seized an arm and pulled Carrie back onto her feet. As Dora briskly set about brushing the dirt from Carrie's clothes, the werewolf told the muggle: "The stone circle is a memorial, a shrine of sorts, to the Six Sisters who founded the village."

"Oh..." Carrie managed, reaching to wipe her grazed hands upon the front of her jeans with a wince. She felt quite glad that neither adult saw fit to comment on her latest little blunder, as instead they set off again through the trees, arm in arm once again, Dora's head leant somewhat lazily upon her husband's shoulder. They made it some distance and were just beginning to climb what looked to be a rather steep hill when Carrie once again lost her footing, this time toppling backwards to fall flat upon her back.

"Urgh..." the muggle moaned, face contorting at the pain blossoming upon her shoulder blades, and again she soon found herself being pulled firmly back onto her feet. "Whoops..." she mumbled, this time tinged pink in embarrassment, yet more embarrassed as Dora reached to pick a stray leaf from her hair.

"Never mind, eh?" the witch said as she let the leaf fall to the ground. "Not too long to go now."

As Carrie reached to flatten her wayward hair and tug at the hem of her coat self-consciously, witch and wizard set off again, Dora reaching for Remus' hand, only for him to pause to glance over his shoulder to observe Carrie's next dazed couple of steps.

The couple exchanged a long glance, and Carrie just about caught sight of Dora's raised eyebrow before Remus gave the witch's hand a firm squeeze, before releasing it.

"Here," the werewolf said, taking a good few steps backwards until he was at the muggle's side. "Give me your hand."

Despite Carrie's utter humiliation, she allowed herself to be led on up the hill, and Remus promptly saved her from yet another tumble when she stumbled over another tree root. As Dora trailed along behind them, talk turned once again to the Six Sisters, and so began another tale of the village that Carrie found almost as unnerving as that from the day beforehand.

"They were the six daughters of a famous Dark Wizard catcher named Alastor Gray." Remus recalled as they weaved their way through the trees, steering Carrie well clear of any large tree roots that crossed their path.

"'S who Mad-Eye's parents named him after." Dora recalled, frowning deeply. "No wonder he ended up such a paranoid old git!"

"Indeed...Alastor Gray was known to be exceptionally paranoid, so much so that his daughters found him utterly unbearable to live with. He was so very over-protective of them that as young children they rarely mixed with anybody other than each other, and they were rarely allowed to leave the house without one of their parents with them. But, since their father was such a renowned Dark Wizard catcher, the family was vastly rich and owned acres upon acres of land. And so the sisters spent their days outside in the woods and in the fields, which is where they got their interest in wildlife."

"How do you know so much about them?" Carrie wondered, as usual quite impressed by Remus' seemingly ending supply of knowledge.

"Fourth year Care of Magical Creatures." the werewolf recalled, and his wife instantly recalled:

"_Question Five: Name the six daughters of Alastor Gray who together founded the Six Sisters Vale Sanctuary in...whenever it was_." As Carrie glanced over her shoulder she saw the witch's face contort in irritation. "I remember," Dora said, "because it was such a stupid question. Who honestly cares what their names were, as if anybody would manage to remember..."  
>"Zelda, Imelda, Esmerelda, Ada, Alinda and Hilda." Remus recited, counting names upon the fingers of his free hand, and Dora instantly demanded:<p>

"Oh shut up!"  
>"Is there anything he doesn't know?" Carrie wanted to know, and Dora sought to wipe the smirk from the werewolf's face as she announced:<p>

"Well I can't be certain, Carrie love, but I don't imagine he knows that Alastor Gray was the inventor of the Foe Glass, and not only that, but his defeat of the Dark Wizard Algavaine in 1423 brought about the establishment of the Gray Wardens, whose Charter of Righteous Protectors was later used for the basis of the original Aurors' Code of Conduct, when the third Ministry of Magic set up the Auror Department in 1681."

There was a lengthy pause as Carrie was forced to bite her tongue against laughter, and Remus stared somewhat blankly at his wife for a moment before admitting:

"I can't say I did know that, no."

"There you have it then, Carrie." Dora said, positively grinning with glee. "There _is_ something he doesn't know!"

Remus offered her an unabashed raised eyebrow as he turned and continued to lead the way on up the hill.

"Oh but I know _now_." he said.

It was not for many long minutes of sniggering and the odd giggle that Carrie finally consented to musing:

"I don't suppose Alastor Gray liked it that much. His daughters all disappearing off into a forest with a bunch of dangerous magical creatures, I mean."

"All the more reason for them to do it, then." Dora muttered, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"No, I don't suppose he did." he agreed. "But they went all the same. They set up camp on their very first night here atop this hill. And that's where their children built the Stone Circle to commemorate them...and there it is!"

Carrie looked up for her careful inspection of the uneven ground in front of her, to spot a series of towering stone statues, weather-beaten and disfigured with age, set in a circle in the clearing at the crown of the hill.

The trio came to stand in the middle of the circle, looking up at each tall stone figure in turn, six witches each dressed in long flowing robes, medieval mantles of stone twigs upon their brows.

"I wonder who's who." Carrie mused, peering up at a particularly stern looking figure who appeared to have lost her nose.

"Which witch is which?" Dora said, rocking back on her heels thoughtfully. "Well that's got to be Imelda, she looks like the mean one with a nose like that. Very Riddle-esque!"

"What was mean about Imelda?" Carrie asked, shuddering a little at the Auror's chosen comparison, and Dora puffed her cheeks in consideration.

"Well," she decided a moment later, "not a whole lot to begin with. Imelda Gray was liked well enough, it was Imelda Carter who was a bit of a nutcase."

"Carter?" Carrie repeated, feeling quite startled by the familiar name, and Dora raised a knowing eyebrow.

"That's right, Imelda Carter. She had a bit of a falling out, you see, with the other sisters. At first, when it was just the six of them and none of them had married yet, they all got on well. They decided if the sanctuary was to run successfully one of them ought to be in charge, and quite naturally they all agreed that the eldest sister ought be the boss."

"But it just so happened that the eldest two sisters, Imelda and Zelda, were twins." Remus explained as he continued to circle the clearing, looking up at each statue in turn.

"So," Dora went on, "they decided that they would both be in charge, share the responsibility. And that was fine for a while, but then Imelda married Alaric Carter, and he thought that they as a couple should be the ones in charge."

"Zelda and the other sisters were strongly opposed to such an idea, and so Imelda began to distance herself from her sisters, and Alaric Carter hatched a terrible plan for them to take control of the valley."

"What sort of plan?" Carrie asked, stomach clenched in anticipation, only for Remus to shake his head.

"Nobody quite knows what he had planned, only that it failed...ultimately."

"Some sort of ancient and dark magic." Dora murmured, sounding somewhat unnerved by the recollection. "He meant to use it to kill Imelda's maiden sisters, but Imelda was not entirely convinced by the idea. By the time they finally went ahead with the plan it was almost futile, all but the youngest sister Hilda had married and most of the sisters had children and relatives living in the Vale. The entire nature of the place had changed."

"So...he didn't kill anybody?" Carrie asked uncertainly, only for Remus to shake his head again.

"Hilda died a day before her wedding." he said, and Dora added:

"And Alaric the day after. They say Imelda struck him down dead. She couldn't stand the thought that he had murdered her sister."

Carrie was left to gaze up at the disfigured face of Imelda Carter as Remus and Dora set about spreading their cloaks out upon the floor, and as they settled down upon the ground, Dora sprawled upon her back to stare up at the sky above, Carrie at last turned back to face them.

"D'you think..." the muggle mused, shuffling over to stand by Dora's feet. "There's such a thing as...as bad blood?"

Remus' expression grew uncharacteristically dark, and Dora's gaze dropped sharply to fix the muggle with a piercing stare.

"Absolutely not." the witch snapped, and Carrie ducked her head, biting her lip.

"I didn't mean...like...like well..."

"We know exactly what you meant." Dora interrupted, apparently quite offended by the suggestion, and Remus reached to lay a hand upon her arm.

"There's no such thing as bad blood, Carrie." the werewolf informed the teenager sternly. "There's only bad influences."

"Yes..." Carrie mumbled, shuffling her feet uncomfortably. "But...what I meant is...well...well if your parents are...are bad then you'll be bad because, like you say, they influence you and...and that'll happen to your children and theirs and theirs...like...like blood..."

Dora gave a huff, ignoring Remus' grip upon her arm tightening.

"You've got far too bleak a view of the world for somebody who's barely started living in it." the Auror observed grimly. "Try and glimpse a rainbow or two before you hit your twenties, won't you, love? Because pessimism won't get you very far in life."

Remus' grip upon Dora's arm grew so tight that Carrie thought it looked quite painful.

"What Dora's trying to say," the wizard explained meaningfully, as the witch's gaze drifted defiantly skyward once again, "is that life isn't that black and white. We aren't influenced by relatives alone, we are influenced by life as a whole. Yes, it's true to say that our parents are a major one of those influences, but we don't have to copy them, and it does nobody any good to judge a person on their relatives. Judge a person by their actions, Carrie. It's the fairest and most accurate method, even if not everybody else will agree with you."

Carrie nodded vigorous agreement, cheeks burning, and she glanced down at Dora, determined to say something to break the sudden atmosphere...

"Dora...?"

"Hm?"

"Um..." Carrie attempted to swallow the lump in her throat, and when it didn't make her feel any better she resorted to asking: "Can I...can I go for a walk?"

"Knock yourself out, love." came the nonchalant reply, and as she shuffled off to hide amongst the trees, Carrie wondered if this was in actual fact a serious suggestion.

She returned to the hilltop some twenty minutes later, guilty and creeping, where she found Remus and Dora almost exactly as she had left them, he sat gazing up at one of the statues, raking his fingers through the witch's hair, now a leafy shade of green, as she lay with her head in his lap.

"Well then," Dora was musing, reaching to stretch an arm lazily up towards the sky, "perhaps Carrie isn't half wrong. Perhaps I'm proof...Bad Black Blood!"

"I rather doubt it." Remus murmured, thumb scuffing her cheek soothingly. "You didn't hex her, after all."

"I do try, you know."

"To hex her? Sweet Merlin..."

"I'll bloody hex YOU in a minute!" the witch exclaimed, reaching to grasp a fistful of his hair threateningly, only for her grip to slacken to a caress instead. "No, I mean I do try not to lose my temper."

"I know." he said, catching hold of her hand in his so that he could press a kiss to her fingers. "I know you do and she knows it too."

"Does she?"

"Of course she does."  
>"It's just...well..."<p>

"Shh."

"...but I've always hated the comparison, you know! They made such a thing of my blood, when I signed up at the Ministry. Sometimes I reckon...if it wasn't for Mad-Eye, they'd have chucked my application in the bin without so much as a second glance!"

"Well thank Merlin for Mad-Eye, then." he murmured, toying with the wedding band upon her finger, before looking down at her with a a smile as he said: "Now then, my darling, how should you like lunch up here whilst the sun is still out?"

"Mm..." she mumbled, sounding distinctly sleepy, "I reckon I should like it very much."

"Well then," he breathed, reaching to ease her up from his lap, only for her to twist and throw her arms tightly around his neck. "I better hurry up and fetch it."

"What are we having?" Dora asked, though it seemed a somewhat pointless question for she promptly stifled any chance he had to respond with a firm kiss to his lips.

"Anything...you like." he managed between kisses, and she sucked in a deep breath, leaning back and glancing up thoughtfully, expression instantly mischievous.

"Ah," she began, causing him to lean to stifle a resigned snigger into the crook of her neck. "In that case, Sweetheart, I think I would like...some champagne..."

"Mm..."

"With caviar on toast."

"Mmhmm..."

"And some chocolate spread sandwiches."

"Right...is that it?"  
>"No. I want apple crumble with custard for pudding."<p>

"Mm..."  
>"With cream. Loads of it. And then I want some strawberries."<p>

"Alright then..."

"Obviously there has to be cream with those, too. That should do."  
>"Mm...so that's a bottle of champagne, some caviar on toast, some chocolate spread sandwiches, apple crumble with custard..."<br>"And cream."

"..._and cream_, and finally strawberries with cream?"

"That's it precisely, Sweetheart. That's what I want for lunch."

They managed just a few seconds of seriousness before she collapsed giggling against his shoulder, and he puffed his cheeks wearily and announced:

"Well, if that's what my darling _wants_..."

"Oh stop it!" she exclaimed, planting a kiss upon his cheek, but he seemingly refused to be deterred.

"...that's what my darling _gets_." Turning to press a kiss to her forehead, he gave her a gentle push upon the shoulder and told her: "I'll be back soon. Try not to hex Carrie too much whilst I'm gone."

Carrie watched as he carefully untangled himself from the witch's grasp, faltering a few times in favour of a kiss, before rising stiffly to his feet, snatching up his cloak to throw around his shoulders. He set off back down the hill, leaving Dora to stare after him with a sigh.

For a while, Carrie simply stood amongst the trees, watching as the Auror settled back down to lie upon the ground, staring up at the sky. Carrie felt foolish for her earlier questions, yet she supposed she hadn't really been able to help them. She couldn't quite seem to put her wonderings about Kit Carter out of her mind, and it would would be a lie to say that for a while the tales of his ancestors had not left her feelings about him somewhat shaken.

Merlin, she thought despairingly as she watched Dora reach to pull her jumper more firmly down over her hips, she really should have given her questioning a little more thought. Of all the people to ask about blood, she'd chosen to ask Dora...

The muggle felt compelled to say something comforting. Silently she shuffled out into the clearing and went to lie down upon the ground at the witch's side, ignoring the slightly damp leaves against her hair. Dora was motionless beside her, and did not look sideways at the muggle until Carrie admitted:

"You've got her eyes."

Dora offered the girl an inquiring frown, and Carrie whispered:

"Bellatrix. When I saw her, in Remus' home village that day, when I thought she'd kill the lot of us, that's what I thought. I thought...those could be Dora's eyes, almost."

Bellatrix's almost-eyes returned to their observation of the sky and Dora murmured:

"Perhaps that's why I chose them. Any similarity would have pissed her off no end. And I like that."

"_Did_ you choose them?" Carrie asked, twisting so that she could prop herself up on one arm, and the Death Eater's niece frowned again.

"Yes and no." she said. "This is their natural colour. But I suppose I choose not to change them."

"I wanted you to change them," Carrie confessed, "for a time. When I had nightmares. But now...now I'm glad you keep them. I'm glad they look like hers."

"Why would you be glad of that, Carrie love?" Dora asked, dark eyes once again upon the muggle's face, and Carrie gazed straight back at her.

"Because it reminds me you're proof." she said, causing the witch's lips to curve ever so slightly towards a smile. "Your proof that what you and Remus say is truth. There's no such thing as bad blood. No matter what anybody else thinks."

And so it was that any doubts about Kit Carter, descendent of Imelda and her murderous husband, were entirely lost from Carrie Winters' mind. Because she had herself entirely convinced that people were wrong about him. As far as she was concerned Bellatrix's almost-eyes were all the proof she needed.

But in her haste to do what was fair and just, the muggle had entirely forgotten the rest of what Remus had told her. She had not a care for _other influences_.

No indeed, Carrie Winters was far too intent on glimpsing rainbows.


	6. Carter Cottage

_Note: **Happy New Year to all faithful Meet the... readers, and anybody else who has taken the time to dabble!**_

_There has been a lack of Carrie/Teddy fluff in the past few chapters...but never fear, that will be rectified soon enough! There's also more storytelling in this chapter...sorry about that! XD_

_I will warn you now that the type of fluff that is about to occur is by no means my forte, and therefore I apologise if it is rubbish._

_Thanks to my lovely reviewers, it's great that people are still reading even now I update more slowly than I did during the summer! (Not to mention even more recently what with Christmas and the reviewers of Snatch and Grab guilt-tripping me into focusing on only one story and ignoring this and other ones!) And such lengthy reviews, too! Keep them coming, you make me smile! :-)_

_I would just like to take a moment to thank whoever it was who added both Meet the Lupins and Meet the Muggles to the community **The Best of the Classics** – I suspect it was **Fallen-Petals15**, so thank you very much for spreading the word about this series! **This chapter is for you. :-)**_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**6: Carter Cottage**

A wash of purple and orange was just beginning to streak across the sky and the sun was dipping towards the horizon as Carrie Winters threw down her shovel in silent triumph, just in time for a voice behind her to call:

"Alright, Carrie? We're heading home!"

Carrie cast one last glance at the now dung-free enclosure in which a duo of chestnut winged horses were stood chewing contentedly upon the grass, before turning to clamber back over the fence, calling:

"I'm coming!"

The muggle landed upon the muddy path with a soft thud, and hurried along after the large crowd of wizards and witches who had abandoned their various tasks for the evening in favour of heading back towards the village. She half-skipped down the path until she caught up with the young man at the back of the crowd, before reaching to throw her arms around his arm with an exclamation of:

"Hi!"

"Hello Beautiful," Teddy Lupin greeted, pulling his arm free in order that he could throw it about her shoulders instead. Leaning to drop a kiss to her temple, the metamorphmagus asked: "Have you had a good day, shovelling dung?"

"I have, actually!" Carrie informed him brightly. "And your mum and dad took me up to the Stone Circle. We had a picnic at lunchtime!"

"Hm...they've been having a good day too, then?"  
>"Yep, they dropped me off with Edwin after lunch and then they disappeared off into the woods again. Your mum said they were off to wrestle hippogriffs."<p>

"Naturally..."

"And your dad said they'd be back in time for dinner tonight."

"I see..."

"Is your mum good at wrestling hippogriffs?"

"Oh yes! She is certainly is, Sweetheart. She's won at least three trophies and half a dozen gold medals..."

They made their way back towards the village, chattering enthusiastically until they reached the edge of the woods and Carrie caught sight of a ramshackle little house set apart from the rest, nestled amongst the trees, and the muggle nodded towards the rather grim looking structure to observe:

"Well there's a haunted house if ever I saw one!"

Teddy was just about to open his mouth to reply, when in front of them Samuel glanced over his shoulder, face contorting into a scowl.

"That's one name for it!" the blonde haired young man commented darkly. Slowing his pace until he was walking at Carrie's side, the wizard hissed: "You'll want to stay well clear of there, Carrie. That's Carter Cottage!"

As they carried on down the path, Carrie couldn't seem to help but let her gaze linger upon the rather sorry looking little dwelling, it's windows grimy and the bushes about the windows long and overgrown as if attempting to hide the inhabitants away from the rest of the world. Despite the dark appearance, Carrie found herself feeling saddened rather than disturbed, and once they finally broke free of the trees and into the village clearing, she had mused that she would return there later to return Kit's jacket that she had borrowed the previous day.

Whilst Samuel disappeared on up the road with a group of friends, Carrie and Teddy headed back into Edwin's cottage, still chattering cheerily, and upon discarding their coats and discovering the main room empty, Carrie found herself towed by the hand across the room and into her designated bedroom.

"Ted..." she began, as Teddy reached to push the door firmly shut behind them, but the wizard promptly turned to throw his arms around the muggle, declaring:

"I missed you!"

"I missed you too," she told him, shifting until she could reach to slip her arms around his neck, silently cursing not for the first time that he chose to be so tall, forcing her to rise up upon tip-toes. "I thought I was going with you this morning, but nobody woke me up!"

Teddy smothered a snigger into her hair, grip upon her tightening.

"I did think you might be less than pleased." he admitted, one hand reaching to sweep a stray strand of hair back from her face. He regarded her somewhat seriously for a moment before informing her: "You really are rather beautiful, did you know that?"

"I'm covered in mud and I smell of horse dung." Carrie pointed out, nose wrinkling at the mere thought, and he offered her a raised eyebrow.

"_Beautiful_." he insisted, thumb attempting to scuff a stray spec of mud from her cheek. When it failed to budge he let out an exaggerated sigh, and Carrie slumped forward, burying her face in his chest with a giggle.

"Well?" he asked rather impatiently, reaching to ease her face back so that she was looking up at him again. "Aren't you going to give me a kiss well done? I've been worked half to death today, I'll have you know! Edwin's a slave-driver, he's worse than Mum!" When Carrie made to snigger again his eyes widened quite comically and he demanded: "Quick! Before Mum and Dad are back!"

Struggling to contain a giggle, Carrie leant to kiss him, and promptly forgot that anything was amusing at all.

There was nothing more magical in the whole entire world than kissing Teddy Lupin, Carrie was absolutely sure of it. Indeed, without doubt flying broomsticks, conjuring flowers and the art of apparation had absolutely nothing on him. He was so perfectly gentle, and yet entirely irrepressible, he held her so tightly as if he might lose her, and yet his hands upon her back were soothingly calm. She felt a wonderful sense of warmth spread throughout her body and Carrie found herself entirely lost to the world, consumed by the eruption of butterflies in her stomach, the soaring sensation in her chest, the array of fireworks in her mind...

As per usual, time disappeared in wash of kisses, fumbling hands and trailing fingers, and after a blissful age she suddenly found that they had seemingly floated across the room, and before she could think much of it, Carrie felt soft fur against her back. It took some while for her to make a connection and realise quite what that might mean...

She opened her eyes just in time for Teddy to lean to press a kiss to her ear, and as she gazed rather blankly up at the ceiling, she heard him breath:

"I think we're misbehaving."

As she lay, half sprawled upon her bed, the comfortable weight of the young wizard pressed atop her, Carrie swallowed a sudden lump in her throat and dared to look down. She eyed the surprisingly good progress that she had managed to make upon his semi-buttoned muddy shirt and agreed:

"Yes...I think we are."

"I suppose it's a rather good thing nobody else is home yet, then."

"Mm..."

"And it's not our fault, anyway."

"It isn't?"

"Of curse not. I've not seen you _all day_!" Teddy heaved himself back up into a standing position and looked down at the muggle, regarding her rather thoughtfully. "Do you know, Miss Winters," he said, one eyebrow raised rather mischievously. "You do look awfully cold, lying there like that."

"I'm not." Carrie insisted, failing not to snigger, and the wizard folded his arms firmly across his chest, expression comically disbelieving.

"Rubbish!" he declared. "You look utterly frozen! Here, let me help you..."

An instant and on Carrie's part rather feeble struggle ensued as Teddy seized hold of the blankets and set about throwing them about the muggle, and upon her sigh of defeat a minute later, he demanded: "Well, budge up then, I'm bone tired!"

Snuggled up together under the furs and blankets a moment later, Teddy stifled a yawn into Carrie's shoulder in order to ask:

"Did Mum and Dad tell you all about the Sisters, then?"

"Mm..." Carrie mumbled, shifting closer to him so that she could tangle their feet together and rest her hands against his chest. "It was...rather creepy."

"I bet it sounded far more creepy up on that hill, with the statues! Compared to sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher tell it, I mean."

"Why on earth would a teacher tell a class a story like that?"

"I don't know...to grab our attentions, I suppose."

"Did it work?"

"No...Joshua fell asleep halfway through."

At mention of Teddy's school friend Joshua, Carrie failed not to wrinkle her nose a little, and the wizard instantly rolled his eyes.

"I do wish you wouldn't pull faces like that." he muttered. "I really don't see why you dislike Josh so much."

"I don't dislike him!" Carrie protested, nose wrinkling even more. "I think he's...he's _lovely_..."

"Liar. Last Christmas you told Victoire that he was a _nasty little toerag_!"

"Well maybe I did...but that was just after I found out he'd gone through your mum's potion supplies and dropped a...a rat's eyeball or...or whatever it was in my orange juice!"

"You have to admit, that was quite funny..."

"It wasn't the least bit funny!"

"Mum laughed her head off..."

"No she didn't! She thinks he's a toerag, too! I heard her telling your dad!"

"Mum thinks ninety nine percent of the world's population is made up of nasty little toerags. She's an Auror, that's what they think!"

Carrie heaved a sigh of defeat at this observation, because she rather supposed it was true. Rolling onto her back she gazed up at the ceiling, a small frown creasing her brow.

"She's a bit funny sometimes really, isn't she?" she mused as Teddy reached to sweep the hair back from her face, fingers lingering idly upon her forehead. "Your mum, I mean."

"How d'you mean?" Teddy wondered, and the muggle puffed her cheeks in consideration before admitting:

"I always thought she was an optimist, when I was younger. I always thought her glass wasn't half empty...or even half full, I always thought it was brimming."

"That's what everybody thinks." Teddy told her. "That Mum's the optimist and Dad's inherently pessimistic. But they're wrong. About both of them."

"Your dad's always optimistic...about me, anyway." Carrie mumbled. "He always believes in me, no matter what I do...but your mum doesn't. Sometimes...sometimes I think she doesn't think a great deal of me."

"Don't be silly, Sweetheart." Teddy told her, leaning to press a kiss to her hairline. "Mum loves you to bits!"

"Just because she loves me doesn't mean she doesn't think I'm useless."

"She doesn't think your useless..."

"Yes she does. I've heard her talking to your dad..."

"You know, Carrie," Teddy interrupted, voice quite stern. "Mum and Dad aren't pessimists or optimists. You don't get pessimistic or optimistic fighting in wars. Wars breed realists. Mum doesn't think you're useless, she simply knows you've a whole lot up against you in the world."

"Do I?" Carrie wondered dully, and Teddy gathered her up in his arms, hugging her tightly.

"Of course you do, take a good look at your life since you met me!"

"At all the trouble I've caused? Yes, it's dreadful..."

"Oh? I suppose it was you who provoked Ambrose Kraft to start Obliviating muggles left right and centre, was it?"

"Well, of course not, but..."

"And you absolutely begged my parents to go to St. Mungo's that day, didn't you? When you knew as well as they did that they'd end up in Azkaban..."

"Obviously not, I wanted to stop them, but..."

"Of course you knew exactly what a time turner looked like too, didn't you? That's why you fiddled with it..."

"Ted be quiet!" Carrie complained, reaching to bury her face in her hands. "I know...I know you're trying to make me feel better, but...but the fact of the matter is most of the time things have gone badly wrong because I've been stupid!"

"You've been ignorant. There's a difference." Teddy insisted, reaching to prise the hands away from her face.

"Ted..."

"I _said_ you've been ignorant, not stupid! And that's all there is to it." He stifled any protest that she attempted to make with a long kiss, and Carrie was just forgetting their conversation entirely, mind wandering and lost in the sensation of his lips against hers when he drew back from her and wondered: "What's brought all this nonsense on, then?"

"Nothing..." Carrie mumbled, only for him to frown disbelievingly.

"You're a dreadful liar." he observed, and she couldn't decide how best to avoid his questioning, so she resorted to sticking her tongue out at him instead. He managed to beat back a grin, serious face mere inches from hers as he gazed at her thoughtfully.

"I'm not a liar..." Carrie mumbled half-heartedly, fidgeting where she lay.

"That's not what I said." Teddy reminded her rather sternly. "I said you're a _dreadful_ liar."

"Well...well I'm not one of those, either!"

"Perhaps not. Perhaps you're an u_tterly appalling liar_ instead!" Carrie was about to open her mouth to protest some more, when he decided: "It's Mum, isn't it? She's...said something...something stupid and insensitive."

Despite her determination to dodge his questioning, Carrie's eyes widened and she asked:

"How do you know that?"

The wizard gave a shrug, smug at his seemingly flawless powers of deduction.

"Well it was hardly going to be Dad, was it?" he scoffed. "He hasn't an insensitive bone in his body!"

"It might have been somebody else..."

"I doubt it, you spent half the day alone with the two of them."

"Well...well it might not have been anybody!"

"Except it was. What did Mum say? Was it one of those '_a muggle walks into a cauldron shop...'_ jokes? She likes those ones..."

"What? What joke...no! No, it wasn't...in fact it wasn't anything! She didn't say anything...I...I did. I said something...something thoughtless and I think...I think I offended her. In fact I think I offended your dad too, he's just far too nice to show it!"

Teddy let out an exasperated groan, reaching to run a weary hand across his face.

"Carrie," he began, the syllables drawn out as if dignifying her by continuing the conversation was an enormous effort. "Honestly, I really can't imagine that there is anything you could possible say to my parents that would _genuinely_ upset them..."

"I told your mum she had Bellatrix's eyes."

"...you _what_?"

"I said I told your mum..."

"Why in Merlin's name did you tell her that?"

"I...I don't know, I just thought...I should say something nice..."

"Something nice...?"

"I know it sounds stupid..."

"Just a little, Sweetheart!"

"Well it wasn't what it sounds like! I...I was trying to explain! I...that wasn't what she was upset by, anyway! In fact I think she thought it was a compliment..."

Teddy squeezed his eyes shut, reaching to squeeze the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

"Well obviously that's because my mum's mental." he pointed out, and despite her increasing embarrassment, Carrie failed to suppress a rather loud giggle. But almost as soon as her amusement had gone again, and her eyes fluttered closed with a heavy sigh.

"I asked if they thought there was such a thing as bad blood." she murmured. "Your mum and dad were...unimpressed."

Teddy was thoughtful for a long moment, mulling this revelation around in his mind before he asked:

"Did she hex you?"

Carrie barely resisted the urge to hit him.

"I'm trying to be serious, Ted!" she snapped, only for the Auror's son to agree:

"So am I. So, did she?"

"Of course not!"

"Well then, she wasn't offended. But it was probably a close thing."

"How do you know that?"

"Well last time Uncle Charlie joked about mum's bad blood she hexed him through a kitchen window."

"She what?"

"It's alright, the window was open at the time...he did crack his head on the window sill, though. Uncle George nearly died laughing!"

"I don't believe you."

"It's true, ask them!"

"There's no point, I won't believe them either! She's your mum, Ted, not your maniac great aunt!"

Teddy gave an exaggerated sigh and rolled his eyes at her.

"Alright, alright! I might have been exaggerating slightly..."

"A whole lot, I bet!"

"But the point is you're being daft! You've nothing to worry about, Sweetheart, it doesn't matter what you said, Mum isn't going to hold it against you. And I wish you wouldn't always think like you do. It's dreadfully silly and it makes me sad."

There was a long silence and as she felt her cheeks reddening, Carrie leant to bury her face in the front of his shirt.

"I don't want to make you sad." she mumbled, and he gave a rather dejected little sigh and hugged her tightly. Feeling quite guilty at the suddenly gloomy atmosphere, Carrie withdrew her face from the refuge of his shirt and leant to kiss him.

And the glorious haze was soon seeping back into her mind as he kissed her back, his hands instantly reaching to tangle in her hair, and time slowed to a wonderfully slow pace as the two of them became quite lost to the world.

_Sweet Merlin_, Carrie thought somewhat numbly as she felt him reach to wrap his arms tightly around her waist, if anybody decided to come home just then she might very well hex them...

And that would be impressive, too, given her complete and utter lack of magi...

She was cut off mid-thought as Teddy shifted her sideways until she found herself sandwiching him against the mattress. Hands coming to rest against her hips to steady her, he blinked against the waterfall of her wavy chestnut hair that had promptly fallen in his face, and, beaming, murmured:

"You're utterly gorgeous, did you know that?"

"I thought I was _really rather beautiful_, last you said."

"Well which description would you prefer?"

"Can't I be both?"

"No, that would be terribly immodest of you."

Carrie found herself with little time to decide upon her preferred compliment because they promptly distracted themselves once again from conversation, his fingers toying with the hem of her jumper.

Carrie closed her eyes, shivering at his lips upon her jaw, and as his hand drifted every so slightly further under her jumper she silently willed it higher...

_Higher...higher...a little bit higher...just a little bit hi..._

_Too high! _

She flinched, instantly rigid and a hurried scramble ensued until clothes had been straightened and their hands were entirely to themselves again. At his deeply apologetic smile, Carrie felt her face blossom pink in embarrassment.

"Sorry..." she mumbled, eyes darting to find something other than his face to stare at. "I was being...um..." Childish. Silly. Frustrating. Annoying. And one of these days your going to be sick of being dreadfully teased and...

"It's fine." Teddy said, reaching to give her a rather cautious hug, and she very nearly groaned.

It was always fine, Carrie recalled, when she panicked, when she ruined things. It was always fine, always _alright_.

Except it really wasn't, she was convinced as much, no matter what Teddy said. She wished she wouldn't panic, that they might grow closer after being together for as long as they had, because surely there ought be no embarrassment amongst soul mates, surely they should be above such things...

And yet...

"I um...I think we should..."

"Mm..."

"I might just..."  
>"Yes."<p>

"Exactly."

Scrambling back onto her feet, Carrie looked searchingly around for some form of distraction, and when her gaze came to rest upon Kit Carter's discarded jacket in the corner of the room she hurriedly went to snatch it up.

"I should probably take this...take this back..." she decided breathlessly, and as he watched her hurry towards the door, Teddy mumbled:

"Carrie..."

"Ted?" she said, pausing halfway through the door, and there was a long silence as he seemingly thought better of whatever had come to mind. Instead he told her:

"Don't be long, will you? Because...you know...it's getting dark and um...and Mum and Dad'll be back..."

"Right...no, I won't be long at all. I'll just...you know...drop it to the door." Turning to leave, she found his confidence boosted a little at the sight of her back to him, for he hastily added:

"I love you, you know."

"And I love you." she assured him in a mumble, and with that she fled.

Carter Cottage looked sinister by moonlight, tree branches leaving shadows to stretch across the walls like long, clawing fingers, the windows grimy and black, so much so that Carrie wondered if there were any lights lit inside. It looked abandoned and in the eerily quiet surrounding trees the wind blew, a gentle hiss as Carrie found herself compelled to creep forward towards the front door. At a sudden fluttering sound, Carrie paused, looking around searchingly, only to spot a small bird flitting amongst the treetops, and as it dropped down towards the overgrown garden path of Carter Cottage, Carrie gave an involuntary shudder, the sight instantly reminding her of her icy tumble into the stream the previous day. She watched the little creature land upon the leafy dirt pathway, and there it stood, hopping from foot to foot for a moment...

And then something quite extraordinary happened. The bird seemed to puff itself up, and up and up until it's little body had ballooned beyond all reasonable proportion, and Carrie watched in astonishment as its legs lengthened to enormous stilts, its wings stretching and shedding feathers that vanished into thin air before they reached the ground, and within a startled blink of the muggle's eyes she found herself not looking at a bird at all, but a very familiar young man instead.

Kit Carter took a moment to brush a stray feather from his hair before setting on up the pathway, only to pause by the door, turning to look searchingly amongst the trees.

Carrie gave herself a little shake to dispel her shock, before stepping out from behind the tree that she had unknowingly been hiding behind. Upon spotting the muggle stood clutching his jacket to her chest, staring at him, a bright smile broke out upon Kit Carter's face.

Feeling a little foolish to be caught no doubt what looked like spying on him, Carrie hurried forwards.

"Hello!" she greeted rather breathlessly as he took a few steps back down the path towards her. "I um...I've come to return your jacket!"

"Oh, yes!" Kit said as she came to a halt just in front of him. "I'd quite forgotten about that! Thank you...um..."

"Carrie." she reminded him as she reached to push the jacket into his arms, and for a moment he forgot to grasp hold of the garment.

"Carrie. Of course." he said, finally taking a hold of the jacket. "Is um...is that short for something...Carolyn, perhaps? I um...I had a cousin Carolyn. She left us once she'd finished at Hogwarts."

"I'm a Caroline, actually."

"Ah, I see."

The pair stared at one another for a long, awkward moment, and Carrie wondered quite what she ought to say. She supposed she ought say something about the awful scene the previous day and how dreadful she thought the other villagers had behaved towards him, and yet she couldn't help but observe:

"You um...you were the bird, weren't you? The bird by the stream yesterday. Because you're an Animagus."

Kit Carter looked quite alarmed at this accusation, so she hurriedly explained:

"I saw you just now, you see. I know that's what you are." Despite how uncomfortable he looked to be discovered the muggle positively beamed up at him as she told him: "I've never met an Animagus before! Or...or rather I have, the Headmistress at Hogwarts is one, Remus says, but I've never seen...you know...her transform or anything! It's very impressive!"

Kit Carter smiled vaguely.

"Well," he murmured, "I'm glad you think so. Nobody else finds me impressive in the slightest..."

He was cut off abruptly by the ramshackle front door be flung back on its hinges, making Carrie jump. The muggle hurriedly turned to look through the doorway, but nobody was there, indeed the place was so dark that she could barely make out what was beyond the threshold.

"FOR GOODNESS SAKE BOY, WOULD YOU STOP MOPING OUT THERE AND COME AND LAY THE TABLE?" a wizened, hoarse voice demanded from somewhere within, and Kit grimaced a little, only to call back:

"I'm just coming, Uncle!" The Animagus turned back to Carrie, smiling apologetically. "I'm sorry about that," he murmured. "He does that a lot..." he looked the muggle up and down before telling her: "Won't you come and meet him, my Uncle Alucard? He'd be delighted to meet you!"

"Oh..." Carrie mumbled, feeling quite taken aback at this suggestion, gaze flickering over to the grim little cottage reluctantly. "That's um...that's very kind of you, but..."

"I'll put the kettle on, we'll have tea?"

"I really ought be getting back for dinner, it's getting dark and everybody will wonder where I am..."

"Just one cup, then? Then I can walk you home? We don't have visitors very often, Uncle Alucard and I, and I don't suppose he's ever met a muggle before!" Kit's face was so hopeful, so lit up at the idea that Carrie wasn't sure she had the heart to say no to him.

"Well...alright then." she consented after his very hopeful pause. "I don't suppose one cup will hurt."

"Great!" Kit exclaimed, positively beaming, and she felt pleased to make him smile so gladly. He led the way up the remainder of the dirt path and they passed across the threshold, he reaching into his pocket to draw out his wand.

"Uncle?" he called as Carrie carefully set about wiping the mud from her shoes upon a filthy doormat, the state of which made her wonder if attempting to clean her shoes was worth the effort. "Uncle, I've brought a visitor!" When there came no response he sighed heavily and wondered: "Why are we standing in the dark? Here..." He gave his wand a wide wave and the dim lamps upon the walls lit themselves, casting a dim light around the room.

It was a small sitting room, similar in layout to that of Edwin's cottage, yet much more cramped, stuffed with furniture and miscellaneous items, all of which looked positively ancient, a mass of hoarded grandeur surrounded by peeling brown wallpaper and a thick layer of dust.

"Goodness..." Carrie murmured, taking a small step further into the room and promptly wishing she hadn't opened her mouth. "What a...what an interesting room..."

"Uncle Alucard doesn't like to throw things away." Kit explained, sounding a little embarrassed by the state of the place.

"Oh, I see." Carrie said, gazing around at the clutter in an attempt to think of something polite to say about it. "It's rather like a treasure trove, isn't it?" she decided, forcing herself to smile brightly, and Kit let out a relieved chuckle.

"Yes, I rather suppose it is!" he agreed. "In fact it's...it's really rather fascinating, Uncle has all sorts of...of family heirlooms and things...if...if you like that sort of thing. Can I take your jacket?"

Carrie wasn't entirely sure she wanted to take off her jacket, for the cottage didn't seem to be all that much warmer than the gathering cold of the evening outside, but nevertheless she shrugged it off and handed it over with a mumbled thank you. As Kit went to hang both his and her jacket up upon an elaborate wooden cloak stand in the corner, stepping over an abandoned pile of dusty books and pieces of parchment to reach it, Carrie took another glance around the room. She tried her best to shake off the conclusion that this was quite possibly the most strange and grim looking places that she had ever seen to tell Kit:

"Actually I do like that sort of thing a great deal! I'm studying History, you see. At University."

"Well then, you should get on famously with my uncle." Kit said as he picked his way back across the room towards her, only to lead the way further inside. "He knows everything worth knowing about the history round here. He could tell you the most brilliant stories!"

"I'd like that."

"Yes, he'd like it too, nobody comes to visit anymore, he's going to be so pleased to meet you...Uncle? Uncle did you hear me? I said we've got a visitor!" When yet again there was no response Kit sighed heavily and explained to the muggle: "I'm afraid he's going a little deaf. I'll um...I'll just fetch him..."

Carrie watched the young wizard hurry towards the nearest bedroom door, and as he disappeared inside she chanced a look towards the shabby kitchenette in the corner, a mound of dirty dishes piled in the sink. Carrie hadn't seen such a messy place in all her life. It was like a giant and even more cluttered version of her best friend Cleo Clancy's bedroom, and such a thought made her was to snigger and shudder all at once.

The bedroom door slowly creaked back open, and Carrie turned to watch Kit step back into the room, followed slowly by a stooped, wizened man with a thin, gaunt face, scraggily grey hair and a pair of thin golden spectacles perched upon the end of his nose.

Alucard Carter eyed the girl stood in his sitting room with squinting eyes that made Carrie want to fidget.

"This is Carrie, Uncle." Kit informed the old man rather loudly. "I met her yesterday, do you remember?"

"Ah, the drowning girl." Alucard recalled, and Carrie felt her cheeks tinge pink as both uncle and nephew stared at her for a long moment. She supposed she ought say something in greeting, and settled on a suitably loud:

"It's lovely to meet you, Mr. Carter."

The elderly wizard cracked a broad smile, revealing a line of crooked, yellowing teeth.

"And it's lovely to meet you, my dear!" he wheezed, setting about making a stiff, shuffling progress across the room towards her. "Very lovely indeed. Isn't she lovely, boy?"

"Yes Uncle," Kit agreed, shooting Carrie a rather apologetic smile over his uncle's shoulder. "She's utterly charming. Do you take sugar, Carrie?"

"No thank you." Carrie mumbled, trying not to feel too uncomfortable at the stranger's enthusiastic assessment of her.

Alucard came to stand before her, gazing at her almost in wonder, eyes a little glazed and Carrie forced herself to smile at him.

"Kit tells me you know a lot about history, Mr. Carter." she said, musing that from the looks of him the poor man was growing senile with age.

"Oh yes!" Alucard exclaimed, and quite suddenly he reached forward to grasp hold of the muggle by the wrist. Carrie struggled not to jump. "Come, come!" he cried, face lit up in delight. "Come and sit down, come and sit by the fire."

One glance at the fire pit in the middle of the room told Carrie that there wasn't any fire to speak of, but nevertheless she allowed herself to be towed across the room and deposited in a moth-eaten arm chair.

"I can tell you such stories that you wouldn't believe!" Alucard was telling her as Kit set about making the tea upon the little space he could find upon the cluttered kitchen counter. "I know all the best stories, don't I boy?"

"That's right, Uncle." Kit agreed as Carrie waited for the old man to let go of her wrist, wondering just how long she needed to wait until pulling herself free ceased to seem rude. "Uncle Alucard knows all the best stories. All the ones other people have forgotten."

"We pass them down the generations, you see." Alucard murmured, still grasping hold of the muggle's wrist. "We Carters don't lose our history, you see. We keep it all safe and sound. Up here!" At long last he let go of Carrie in order to tap a finger against his temple with a grin.

"You must have an extraordinary memory." Carrie said, leaning back as far as her seat would permit, only for the wizard to lean closer still as he agreed:

"Yes, yes I certainly do!"

"Why don't you sit down, Uncle?" Kit suggested loudly. "I'll bring you a cup of tea to drink before supper."

Carrie was beginning to wish that she hadn't agreed to join them for tea at all, but refused to allow Alucard's mannerisms to unnerve her. After all he was being perfectly kind and friendly, if a little odd. Old people were like that sometimes, Carrie recalled, like her Great Aunt Beatrice with her obsession with spring cleaning, or Teddy's Great Grandma Tonks, who Dora claimed had not only been a muggle but had also been c_ompletely and utterly batty_. It didn't do to be unkind to people like that. People of a certain age deserved respect and patience, no matter how odd they seemed.

"Do you know," Alucard was saying as he stiffly lowered himself down into another chair, squinting over at Carrie through the dim light of the room. "The tale of the Maiden and the Dragon Master?"

"No, I don't think I've heard that one." Carrie admitted, and the old man's voice dropped to almost a whisper as he immediately launched into the story.

"Once, many, many years ago when the Sanctuary was still young and the Sisters were still living, young Matthias Carter, youngest son of Alaric Carter and the Sister Imelda Gray, was waiting at the outskirts of the village to catch a glimpse of his beautiful cousin Tabitha Layne, youngest daughter of the Sister Zelda Gray and Francis Layne. Miss Tabitha was the most beautiful girl in the valley, so breathtaking was she that men would stop and stare at her as she passed! And Matthias was utterly enamoured with her. He wished beyond all else to marry his cousin, but alas! Tabitha had, for many years, already been promised to another man! Nevertheless Matthias waited for hours just for her to pass and for the two of them to speak, and when she did finally pass she told him that at long last a date had been set for her wedding. Matthias was so overcome with grief at the idea that he confessed his undying love for her there and then! He begged her to run away with him! Tabitha was overwhelmed by his adoration, and yet she had no time to make a reply for at that very moment _he_ arrived!"

"Who?" Carrie asked as Kit at long last came to press a chipped cup and saucer into her hands.

"The Dragon Master!" Alucard hissed, slit-like eyes widening ominously, and Carrie found herself whispering as she asked:

"Who was he?"

"Nobody knew his name!" Alucard told her, taking the cup Kit offered him and clutching it tightly in both long-fingered hands. "But he came to speak with the Sisters and came across Matthias and Tabitha upon the outskirts of the village! He told Matthias that he wanted to ask the Sisters to begin sheltering dragons in the Valley. But Matthias told him that there simply weren't the resources or indeed enough space for the sanctuary to take in dragons! The Dragon Master grew terrible angry, but Matthias told him to leave...and that was when the Dragon Master left a terrible curse upon the Valley! He said a maiden would die, when the dragons did come!"

As she took a sip of her tea, Carrie rather wanted to muse aloud that the maidens of the Six Sisters Valley did seem to have quite a bad lot in life, but she supposed that might sound terribly rude.

"What happened?" she asked instead. "Did any dragons come?"

"Just the one, that very same day!" Alucard recalled, before leaning forwards in his chair and announcing gravely: "But it only takes the one, my dear, it only takes the one!"

"How dreadful!"

"It was, my dear, it was dreadful indeed! The Dragon Master returned upon the back of the most fearsome dragon that ever there was! And he burnt the forests with great bursts of fire, and crushed houses with a swipe of the terrible beast's tail! It rampaged through the village until it came upon this very house in which we are sitting now!" The old man paused for dramatic emphasis, staring at Carrie as if expecting some sort of response, and so the muggle leant forward in her chair, eyes wide as snitches.

"Then what, Mr. Carter?" she asked, gaze flickering towards Kit to note that he looked utterly delighted at her enthusiasm.

"Young Matthias and his darling Tabitha were in the house. They were hiding from Tabitha's mother, who had caught wind of Matthias' declaration of love and wished to separate them for the sake of the upcoming wedding! And when they heard the dragon approaching Matthias made to hide the two of them in the house, but Tabitha broke free from his embrace and despite he cries of protest that beautiful girl ran straight outside...and _snap_! The dragon snatched her up and swallowed her whole!"

"How horrible!" Carrie exclaimed, and the old man's eyes glinted proudly at his storytelling skills as he whispered:

"And then, the Dragon Master and the beast...just flew away!"

There was a long silence at this conclusion as Carrie stared thoughtfully down into her by now empty cup, only for a knocking upon the front door to make her jump.

"Well?" Alucard snapped abruptly, turning to look at his nephew. "Get the door, boy!"

"Yes Uncle."

Carrie leant forward in her chair so that she could more clearly see the door, and Kit went to pull it open, revealing a very familiar looking figure indeed.

At the sight of Remus Lupin stood outside, smiling faintly, Carrie felt a sudden stab of apprehension in her stomach...

She'd quite forgotten sitting here listening to Alucard's story that she ought be back in time for dinner. Before either Kit or the werewolf could utter a word, the muggle had hastily deposited her cup and saucer on the cluttered coffee table and had leapt to her feet.

"Sorry, sorry!" she cried as she hastily straightened her jumper. "I...I was just coming..."

"I'm afraid Carrie's dinner is growing rather cold." Remus informed Kit with the same mild smile that made Carrie suspect that he was in actual fact not the least bit amused by her tardiness.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lupin," Kit murmured. "It's my fault, I...I asked Carrie in for a cup of tea..."

"It's quite alright, Kit. No harm done." Remus said as Carrie paused halfway to the door to turn and hurry back to where Alucard was sat, seemingly entirely unconcerned by Remus' arrival.

"Thank you for having me, Mr. Carter." she told him loudly. "It was very nice to meet you." She jumped a little when his hand shot forward to grasp hold of her by the hand, and though she made to turn it into a handshake he did not move.

"And you, my dear, and you!" the old man wheezed, thumb scuffing her hand as he gazed up at her intently. "You really must come again!"

"I'm sure I will." Carrie agreed, and there was a long pause before she dared gently prise her hand free from his grasp. As she hurried tot he door and Kit handed her her jacket, Remus gazed around the cluttered room rather thoughtfully before reaching to usher the muggle outside.

"Good Evening to you, Mr. Carter." the werewolf called, and Alucard at last looked over at him.

"And to you sir, and to you." he murmured in disinterest.

"Goodnight, Kit." Remus told the young man at the door, and Kit offered his back a rather shy smile as the werewolf turned and began to hurry Carrie along the muddy pathway with a hand upon her shoulder.

"Thank you for tea!" Carrie called back over her shoulder, and as Kit called goodbye, Remus gave a rather strained chuckle.

"Tea with the Carters!" the wizard muttered as they reached the end of the pathway and set off through the trees. "What were you thinking? Do you have a mind to see the four of us evicted?"

"I don't see why I can't have tea with them!" Carrie protested indigently. "They're...they're perfectly nice...if a bit...unusual...and you can't disapprove, not after all you said this morning!"

"Of course you should have tea with them if that's what you want." Remus agreed, his footsteps stomping upon the leafy ground. "I just wish you'd be a little more discreet about it. Being late for dinner at Edwin's because you've been sitting drinking tea with Kit Carter and his uncle isn't going to go down terribly well now, is it? We don't want to cause any drama."

"Are you saying I have to pretend I was somewhere else?"

"Merlin no...Teddy already announced where you were in front of the entire family! Edwin was all for marching over and blasting the front door down, but I suggested I go and knock politely instead." Remus pulled Carrie to an abrupt halt just before they broke out of the trees. He turned to look down at her, expression firm. "You can't change these people, Carrie." he informed her rather solemnly and Carrie frowned deeply.

"Don't you think we should try?" she asked, and she felt it a betrayal of his nature when Remus bluntly told her:

"No."

"But...why not? It's...it's unfair! It's horrible!"

"Because I don't want to cut short and ruin Dora's holiday because Edwin's kicked us out of his house." Remus said, eyes upon Carrie imploring. "And because, Carrie, you can't banish prejudices in two short weeks!" he sighed heavily and reached to run a weary hand through his hair as he murmured: "They run much too deep."  
>And with that, he set off towards the house, hands shoved deep into his pockets, and Carrie trailed along behind him, utterly dreading following him through Edwin's front door.<p> 


	7. Guardian Human Beings

_Note: This chapter is dedicated to **TrueNorth and** **FrayaMarloWoulds**, for being new faces, and for being wonderfully flattering too! Thank you very much, and welcome to the mad house! :-)_

_There are some references to earlier 'fics in this chapter – but they are a little on the cryptic side so will be baffling rather than spoilers!_

_**This is the last thing that I will be posting before I return to University! Regrettably updates for all of my stories will be few and far between for the foreseeable future. Sorry about that, everybody!**_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**7: Guardian Human Beings**

The voices, so hushed to begin with, were growing steadily louder, steadily more irate, and as she stood, stooping to press her eye to the keyhole of the door, Carrie Winters found herself holding her breath.

"You must tell her!" the muggle heard Edwin exclaim, sounding extremely agitated indeed as he continued to pace back and forth before the kitchen table. "You must demand it!"

As his wife sat beside him eying the pacing man's stalking progress with a deeply weary expression, Remus drew in a deep, careful breath before calmly explaining:

"I'm afraid I have no right to demand Carrie do anything, Edwin..."

"You sent her to her bedroom well enough!" Samuel observed with a scowl, only for Edwin to stop his pacing abruptly to snap:

"Samuel!"

"But he did! If he can send her to her room, why can't he tell her not to go waltzing off over there to get molested by those perverts?" When Dora turned to stare at him, appalled, the young man folded his arms firmly across his chest and snapped: "What? It's the truth! Are you going to tell me I'm wrong?"

Carrie waited for Edwin to scold his son again for being so rude for a second time, but instead a rather expectant silence descended over the room.

For a horrified moment, Carrie screwed her eyes shut.

_Merlin, how awful_, she thought miserably, _what a terrible, terrible scene!_ She had expected a rather frosty reception at the dinner table that evening, but nothing quite like this. She'd very nearly run to hide in her room when Remus had suggested she get an early night just a few minutes earlier, and though she was still glad to have a solid wooden door between herself and those accusing stares, Carrie did feel dreadful for Remus and Dora still sat at the table, bearing the full brunt of her mistake.

For a fleeting moment she considered throwing the door open and jumping in to defend herself personally, but the idea died a shamefully quick death when she admitted to herself that she was too much of a coward.

After a suitably awkward silence, Remus looked up from a very thoughtful examination of Dora's hand that was slowly edging its way into his lap to fix Edwin with a well-practiced stare that managed to be firm yet perfectly amiable all at once.

"What I mean to say, Edwin, is that Carrie isn't a child and it really isn't for me to tell her if she can go somewhere or if she can't befriend somebody..."

"Maybe not, but she is your responsibility isn't she?" Edwin hissed, eyes wide in panic. "Remus, believe me, these people they...they're the worst sort!"

"She is our responsibility, yes, but whatever quarrel you have with the Carters has nothing to do with us." Dora insisted resolutely. "The Ministry never ruled anything against that family..."

"Are you calling my father a liar?" Samuel asked, rising abruptly from his seat, the screeching of the chair legs upon the floor making Carrie flinch.

"I'm not calling anybody a liar." Dora reasoned calmly as over by the sink Neve reached to press a horrified hand to her mouth. "I'm simply looking at the few things can be proven for certain. Kit Carter's guilt isn't one of them..."

"HE KILLED SABLE!" Samuel shouted, making his mother jump. "HE MURDERED MY SISTER!"

"That's enough, Samuel." Edwin murmured, reaching to put a firm hand upon the young man's shoulder. "You'll upset your mother."

Carrie couldn't help but feel that it was rather too late for that, for Neve promptly gave a rather high pitched sob and buried her face in a tea towel.

"We're not here to point fingers or cause anybody any upset." Remus said as Samuel sunk back into his chair, face red from his outburst. "What happened to Sable was tragic and we're deeply sorry to hear of it. But we've no wish to form any sort of opinion based on people's guesses about what happened and we aren't going to encourage Carrie to do so either."

"Carrie can form an opinion based on facts having met and spoken to the Carters." Dora agreed. "And meanwhile we'll keep an eye or two on her from a distance, just like we always do. You've no need to worry about her. Trust me, we're _very_ well practiced."

There was a long silence as at the end of the table Teddy nodded vigorous agreement and Edwin eyed his guests despairingly before murmuring:

"Very well, then."

"Pa..." Samuel began immediately, only for Edwin to wave a dismissive hand at him and instruct:

"You hold your tongue and show some respect, Samuel!"

"But Pa..."

"It's their sword, let them die by it."

Carrie felt only marginal relief at this frosty understanding that had settled between the adults, and as she watched Remus and Dora rise from their chairs, she wondered at Edwin smiling whilst stepping forward to grasp Remus momentarily by the hand, and at Dora's sudden declaration that dinner had been lovely and perhaps she might help Neve clear the table. As they all seemed to fall into the usual politeness and niceties that had occurred the previous evening at dinner, Samuel stared around at them incredulously, and as Teddy set about following his parents' example, the blonde haired young man was finally tipped over the edge.

"Do you play chess, Samuel?" Teddy asked cheerfully as he set about stacking up the plates down at his end of the table, and Samuel turned to stare at him with wide eyes.

"_Chess_?" he asked, very nearly spitting, but Teddy appeared not to notice.

"Yes, chess. We could have a game, if you like."

Samuel slowly reached to run disbelieving hand over his eyes in an attempt to calm himself, only for the hand to ball into a fist which he promptly slammed down onto the table, making his mother jump, the glass she was holding slipping to the floor with a crash.

"No I don't want to play bloody _chess_!" Samuel cried. "What's _wrong_ with you people?"

Everybody turned to look at him as if he were being utterly outrageous, and his face contorted in frustration, only to turn on his heel and stalk across the room, heading straight for the door that Carrie was stooped behind. The muggle had barely leapt backwards from the door when the young man had reached to fling it open wide, the fury upon his face made the muggle take another step backwards.

"Did he tell you all about the wonderful Miss Tabitha and poor, grieving Matthias?" he demanded to know as Teddy got to his feet, face contorted into a scowl at such abrupt behaviour.

Carrie glanced past the fuming young man to see Dora abandon a stack of plates beside the sink. The Auror folded her arms firmly across her chest, lips pressed together into a thin, disapproving line. The witch's disapproval gave Carrie just about enough nerve to draw herself up to her full height and ask:

"So what if he did? What does it matter?"

"Did he tell you what a beautiful and lovely girl Tabitha was? How she was overcome with joy and love when Matthias told her he loved her? How she threw herself to the dragon to save her loving, darling Carter?"

"It's just a story!" Carrie insisted, rather wishing that Dora might feel annoyed enough to interrupt, but the witch merely continued to stare along with everybody else.

"Is it?" Samuel asked, and with that he threw back his head and gave a rather high pitched shout of laughter.

"Samuel, leave her alone for Merlin's sake!" Edwin muttered at last, far more feeble than the booming voice that Carrie had become used to, but Samuel ignored him.

"It's a pack of lies!" the young man insisted furiously. "It always is with them!"

"It's just a story." Carrie said again, and Samuel took a stomping step towards her. Back out in the living room, Carrie saw Teddy edge forward a step of his own.

"It's not just a story! It's a lie! A cover up!" Samuel exclaimed. "Tabitha didn't love Matthias in the slightest, he was a horrible brute! He had her locked up in that house against her will! She didn't sacrifice herself to the dragon to save him, she did it for herself! To save herself from Matthias Carter and his dreadful temper and suffocating obsession with her!"

There was a long pause as Carrie attempted to digest the information that had been triumphantly thrown at her, and she glanced uncertainly over his shoulder again to gage the others' reactions.

Unhelpfully, Remus' expression was its usual and infuriatingly neutral self. Dora was eying her shoes as if she were tired of the drama...

"Well..." Carrie decided a little shakily when nobody came to her rescue, "I...I don't know if that's true or not. I don't know if any of it's true, but I don't care either way. Why should I worry about a dragon gobbling up a girl hundreds of years before now? It's...irrelevant!"

"Nothing's irrelevant." Samuel hissed. "Not when it comes to those people!"

"That's enough, Sam!" Edwin insisted, at last coming entirely to his senses. He strode to the doorway and reached to put a firm hand upon Samuel's shoulder. "Now come on, leave her be!"

Samuel shot Carrie one last scowl before reluctantly allowing his father to lead him back into the room, and the cheery facade instantly began to manifest itself anew.

"Can I help with the washing up?" Teddy asked Neve as if it were without doubt his most favourite activity, and Edwin told him:  
>"That'd be really kind of you, Ted." Hand still grasping hold of Samuel by the elbow as if he didn't dare let him loose, the wizard smiled broadly and asked: "Eh, Tonks, how'd you like a bit of stargazing before the chill sets in? It's clear as anything, the sky out there tonight."<p>

"Why not?" Dora said brightly, glad for the suggestion, and she promptly seized Remus by the hand and wondered: "D'you remember where I left my cloak, love?"

Carrie watched a little numbly as the couple promptly disappeared out into the darkness outside, and as Teddy and Neve set about clearing up after dinner, chattering quite merrily about nothing in particular, Carrie supposed herself forgotten for Edwin promptly turned to Samuel, grip upon the young man's elbow tightening as he leant forward to hiss:

"Keep your mouth _shut_!"

"But they have to know, Pa!" Samuel protested miserably. "They have to, they need to believe us!"

"Would you believe us if you were them?" Edwin whispered. "Of course you wouldn't!"

"Everybody else believes us!"

"Everybody else isn't them, son! Everybody else isn't an _Auror_ and a _werewolf_!" When Samuel merely stared at his father blankly, Edwin sighed heavily, reaching to rake a hand through his thick mop of hair. "If the Ministry didn't prove it Tonks won't just assume we're right! If Aurors went around making assumptions left right and centre they'd be very short-lived indeed! How many years has she been with them, d'you suppose? Couple of decades at least! And d'you reckon the witch who married a werewolf is going to believe any amount of hearsay about anyone 'less she has some actual proof? Not bloody likely! And what's Remus got in the world if he can just believe something as awful as all that? What's there for him anywhere if he can just assume the worst of people? If he can do it, so can everybody else, and they'd assume the worst of him, wouldn't they son? We'd all think bad of a werewolf! He has to see good in people, Samuel, he has to give them what he thinks is a fair chance. Because he needs to believe that if _he_ can do it, somebody else out there can do the same for him." As Samuel's gaze dropped shamefully to his shoes, Edwin reached to lay his hands upon the young man's shoulders. "Don't blame them, Samuel." he insisted softly. "They're good people, they don't deserve grief for wanting a bit of fairness in the world. And Tonks' right, they'll keep a good eye on the lass. They might want to be fair, but they ain't stupid. You don't get dim Deputy Heads of Aurors and you don't survive in the Order of the Phoenix without some sense and a sharp eye or two." For a moment, Edwin gazed at his son imploringly, before his hands slipped from Samuel's shoulders and he murmured: "Now get that table scrubbed clean and set the scraps aside for the animals."

Once the two of them had wandered off to help clean up, Carrie hurriedly reached to push the bedroom door shut again, leaning back against the wood with a heavy sigh. Her heart was still thudding relentlessly in her chest from the confrontation and she could feel her cheeks burning pink. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing, relieved at the feeling of the cool air being drawn into her lungs.

She was half glad, half despairing at Edwin's decision to agree to disagree with Remus and Dora. She was relieved the arguing had stopped, the tense atmosphere dispersed, and yet she felt utterly exposed, entirely unprotected. She didn't like to hear Edwin reason away the Lupins' attitudes, easily explain their opinions and precisely where they came from.

No indeed, Carrie couldn't stand the suggestion that Dora thought as she did because of her job, or that Remus thought as he did because of his condition. She wanted to draw the easy and comforting conclusion: They thought that way because it was _right_. They were right, they knew it all, they were flawless mystical beings who didn't need explaining, they were simply omniscient...

Except they weren't. They never had been, it was all an illusion, a fantasy, Carrie's guardian angels weren't angels at all, they were guardian human beings with flaws...

Guardian human beings who made abrupt decisions with painful consequences soaked in blood and tears and piercing cries, Carrie could still recall the stains of death upon the gravel driveway that she herself had once solemnly washed away with bucketfuls of water, a deadly crimson mistake running in an ugly bloody stream before her eyes.

Guardian human beings who misjudged what they were up against, with crushing results that left them battered and broken and in need of guardian angels themselves, hopeless, helpless and subtly scarred, marks so deep they never quite healed. It had been a year since the Deputy Head of Aurors had last made a trip to Azkaban Prison, a year of excuses, of delegating such journeys to others, of point blank refusals to step foot inside that place, quiet and brief acknowledgement of a lasting pain that Carrie's guardians both bore at all other times silently. Sometimes the silence broke at night, when the world was sleeping and imaginations ran wild, twice Carrie had awoken from falling asleep upon their sofa downstairs to the sound of panicked shrieking, an audible scar from their most regretted mistake.

At yet it was all so easy to forget, it was so easy to pretend that none of it had happened. It was easy when Dora dismissed Carrie's fears by saying something witty, or when Remus spoke so definitely that the muggle could find herself quite convinced that he had never known a mistake in all his years.

Carrie wished she hadn't been listening to Edwin, that he hadn't had the chance to ruin her happy facade.

The muggle attempted to fan her face with one hand, frowning at the heat upon her cheeks. She really did feel unbearably warm after the confrontation and after a moment she crossed to the little bedroom window and reached to push it open a little. The air that began to seep into the warm room was chilly and Carrie gave a relieved shudder. She closed her eyes and listened to the soft rustling of the trees outside, somewhere above an owl hooted softly and then...

Footsteps.

Carrie's eyes darted open and she squinted through the darkness searchingly. She could hear familiar, hushed voices...

Carrie hurriedly dropped into a crouch below the window. She couldn't bear Remus and Dora catching sight of her, she felt much too guilty for causing them trouble. She wouldn't know what to do or say. She heard the couple come to a halt and she dared to peer over the window ledge to see them stood by the tree some meters away, Remus' gaze upon his shoes and Dora's somewhat unconvincingly skyward.

"Edwin's not kidding." Carrie heard the witch murmur, taking an idle few steps until she was stood at her husband's back. "It's stunning."

"Mm..." Remus murmured, not bothering to look up.

Dora turned to face his back, reaching to slide her hands up onto his shoulders, fingers pressed in soothing circles as she observed:

"You've gotten yourself terribly tense."

The werewolf frowned deeply and reached to shove his hands deep into his pockets.

"It's going wrong." he complained as Dora's forehead came to rest against his back.

"What is?" the Auror asked as if nothing at all were amiss, and he gave a soft huff.

"This is. This holiday of ours..."

"Is it?" Dora sounded surprised. "I think it's been going brilliantly. Did you know, love, I've eaten strawberries and cream two days in a row?"

Remus pursed his lips together against a smile.

"Well yes," he said as her grip upon his shoulders tightened. "But it's supposed to be perfect..."

"Nothing's ever perfect, Sweetheart. You should know that, you're married to me!" Dora rose up onto tiptoes until she could rest her chin upon his shoulder. "Forget all that back there, eh?" she suggested, voice dropped to a soft murmur that Carrie could barely make out. "We'll all sleep on it and it'll die down."

"I expect you're right." Remus agreed half-heartedly, only for Dora to insist:

"You _know_ I'm right."

"Yes, I do."

"Mm..." There was a sizeable pause, her fingers still probing thoughtfully at his shoulders before she concluded: "There's something else, though, isn't there?"

For a while Remus didn't reply, a deep frown creasing his brow and Carrie felt quite hurt when Dora insisted:

"Out with it, Remus, what _else_ has Carrie done now?"

"It's not Carrie." Remus mumbled, and the witch gave an exaggerated gasp and exclaimed:

"It's a miracle!"

"It's me." Remus elaborated without a hint of amusement.

Dora instantly sobered, one hand abandoning its inspection of his shoulder to tangle absentmindedly in his hair.

"D'you want to talk about it?" she asked, leaning until her head was nestled against the side of his neck.

Remus took a moment to draw his cloak further around himself before admitting:

"I told Carrie something I shouldn't have..."

"Did you tell her that _wrestling hippogriffs_ is a euphemism?"

"No..."

"Thank Merlin."

"I've lied to her."

"So have I. But I like to think it was necessary for her mental wellbeing..."

"No, Dora, I mean I've _lied _to her."

"Ah."

Remus sighed heavily, reaching to run a weary hand across his eyes.

"I told her there wasn't any point trying to...trying to change things here." he confessed. "I told her it couldn't be done in just two weeks."

"Well you're right," Dora reasoned, smoothing his hair comfortingly, "it probably can't."

"Yes...but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try!"

Dora sighed heavily, and Carrie could just about make out her eyes drifting closed. There was a long pause before the witch murmured:

"Sweetheart?"

"Mm?"

"_Don't_." The witch straightened up and reached to turn her husband round to face her, and through the darkness Carrie could just about make out the deeply serious expression upon her face. "Don't feel guilty, just don't. We can't fix the whole wide world, love, it's far too big, far too bruised and far too broken! The best we can do is patch up a few bits here and there and be glad of it. And when we've not the time, or the resources, like right now, that's nothing to feel bad about, it's not as if we've done nothing."

"We've done something?" Remus murmured disbelievingly, and she reached to cup his face in her hands, dark eyes imploring as she insisted:

"Yes, Sweetheart! Yes we have, we've led by example. We haven't jumped on the bandwagon, we're being fair and we're doing what's right. And we don't deserve to feel bad about doing only that, we can have a holiday for Merlin's sake! We can have a holiday and enjoy ourselves, why in Merlin's name not? We've had a bad enough time this past year or so! We deserve it! We do, I know you don't think it but we do!"

At a rare mention of the unspeakably awful few weeks the previous year, Remus immediately reached to wrap his arms tightly around Dora's waist.  
>"Yes you do." he murmured, only for her to correct:<p>

"Yes _we_ do. Nobody's going to blame us for keeping ourselves to ourselves. Not after...not after we didn't last time." For the briefest of moments there was a painful stab of anxiety in her voice, and Carrie couldn't help but wonder if the prospect of drama had become something of a worry, a fear of what it might lead to. But as soon as it had come, it was gone again, and Dora reached to slide her fingers into her husband's hair, the movement slow, calming. "So," the witch murmured, dark eyes twinkling, "_relax_. Close your eyes."

The werewolf's shoulders slumped obediently as she closed the gap between them, lips tickling his ear. "Listen." she whispered as his grip upon her slackened, his hands resting comfortably upon her hips. "There's barely a sound except the wind in the trees, it's perfectly peaceful. Just like it was before we came back for dinner."

"It's colder."

"Mm...but we're not. We can stay warm like before." She slid her hands deep into the warm folds of his cloak and as he tucked his hands under the hem of her jumper she gave a shiver at cool fingers against bare skin. "You know," she whispered, drawing back ever so slightly so that she could smile at his still closed eyes. "We could stay out here all night, if we wanted to."

"And catch our deaths."

"Mm...if we wanted to."  
>"Mm."<p>

"Because it's no different than before, is it? It's just the same, just as whimsical and carefree and _just us_."

For a moment his eyes drifted open and he was about to lean to kiss her when he found a finger suddenly pressed to his lips.

"Close your eyes." the witch insisted, and for the briefest second Carrie thought me might protest, only for Dora to add: "_Close them_!" Once satisfied that he was once again blind to the world, the Auror leant forward until their lips were brushing. "There's no problem." she murmured, leaning back a little when he made to kiss her again, "No work, no children, no suicidal muggles..." Remus attempted to suppress a huff of amusement and failed, earning himself a sharp tap upon the lips with her finger. "...nobody. Not anybody, not anything, just us. Just you and me."

"In which case," the werewolf murmured, pausing again to steal a kiss and failing when she jerked backwards to avoid it, "I should very much like to open my eyes..."

"No. Not yet."

"You're teasing me."

"I'm your wife, Sweetheart, that's what I do."

"Apparently so...  
>"Shhh."<p>

"...but you'd think after so long you'd give me a breather every once in a..."

"Shut up, love."

"Right."

For a brief moment the atmosphere was quite spoilt as Dora failed to suppress a chuckle, only for it to end abruptly when he attempted to use her distraction to his advantage. Dodging the incoming kiss she gave him a firm slap upon the arm and demanded:

"_Behave_!"

"Why? You're not..."

"Walk this way."  
>"Which way? Come back..."<p>

"This way!"

"My eyes are closed..."  
>"Follow my voice, then..."<p>

"I can't see..."

"Then I suppose if you want a kiss you're going to have to trust me!"

As she watched Remus trip over a fallen tree branch and struggle not to fall to his knees a moment later, Carrie had to clamp a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. She supposed she might just as well have laughed out loud for Dora's shriek of amusement would no doubt have drowned her out.

"Keep going, keep going..."

"You're wicked."

"It's not my fault you can't put one foot in front of the other."

"Only keeping you company, darling."

"What? That's...! Left a bit, left a bit..."

_Crunch._

"Argh.._Dora_!"

"You deserved it! That was a nasty joke! Keep going, nearly there!"

"This better be worth it..."

"Is it? Am I worth it, Remus?"

"I'm not sure..."

"You're not sure?"

"No..."

"Right!"

"No, _left_. You'll walk me into another tree root..."

"Don't be so bloody clever! You're supposed to be trusting me!"

"More fool me then..._gotcha_!"

As she watched Remus triumphantly snatch Dora up into his arms, eliciting a small squeak from the witch in question, Carrie was for a moment quite charmed by their silliness and was about to muse that she rather hoped she and Teddy would grow to be so daft, when her amusement was dulled as the couple broke from a kiss and Dora murmured:

"There, passed relaxed and heading for downright ridiculous. Better now, Sweetheart?"

"Much better." Remus admitted, and as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, the witch sighed contentedly and whispered:

"Then let's stay like this. Let's stay _much better_."

"Let's." he agreed, and Carrie felt oddly apprehensive as Dora nestled her head under her husband's chin and decided:

"Let's stick to just you and me."

"Let's." Remus murmured again, and quite suddenly Carrie found herself with an urge to jump to her feet and shout out of the window: _No, let's not!_

_Don't shut out the rest of the world_, the muggle thought quite desperately._ Don't disappear off for the rest of the holiday and leave me to figure things out for myself._

Because she didn't know what to think, who to listen to, what to believe...

_Don't be selfish!_

For a moment, as she slipped further down onto the floor of her room and reached to hug her knees to her chest, Carrie allowed the sense of anger to bubble up inside of herself, she felt betrayed, abandoned...

And yet almost as soon as it had come it was gone again, crushed to death by Carrie's own disgust.

Because it was disgusting that she could think like that, if only for a second.

Because it wasn't selfish of them to want to be alone, to want to forget things for just a little while. Dora was right, they deserved it...

No, Carrie realised as she reached to press fingers into her eyes, the dull ache a slight distraction from the twisting knots in her stomach. She didn't feel angry because Remus and Dora were selfish.

She felt anxious because perhaps they had finally had enough.

Enough drama, enough problems, enough trouble, enough upset, enough strain.

Enough of being guardian angels. Enough of being fearless wonders.

Enough of Carrie.

And Carrie Winters felt utterly defenceless. She tried to reason with herself, remind herself of what they had said to Edwin, what they always said to her: they'd keep an eye on her and keep her safe.

But something was different. Something had changed, Carrie was sure of it...

She became distracted by the sound of movement by the window above and the soft scratching sound made her jump. She hastily shifted around to look up at the window, and very nearly jumped again to spot a small bird perched carefully upon the window ledge.

For a moment, girl and bird stared at one another as if in wonder, before the bird ruffled it's feathers a little and gave a cheerful chirp.

Despite herself, Carrie found herself smiling, only to falter a little as a thought dawned:

_Kit Carter_.

"Hello..." she whispered rather hesitantly, wondering if it was indeed the Vale's resident Animagus, though she couldn't imagine for the life of her what he would be doing at her bedroom window, but at that precise moment there came a knock upon the door and the bird took flight in alarm.

"Carrie?" Teddy's voice called as Carrie watched the bird flutter off into the treetops outside. "Are you awake?"

It wasn't until the bird had disappeared entirely that Carrie realised that she had been asked a question. She scrambled to her feet and went to pull open the door.

"Yes I am." she informed her boyfriend rather unnecessarily a moment later, and the turquoise haired wizard reached forward to take hold of her by the hand.

"Are you alright?" he asked, thumb scuffing her hand comfortingly, and Carrie was quick to plaster a smile onto her face and assure him:

"I'm fine." When he looked a little disbelieving she insisted: "Really I am."

"Good." Teddy breathed, sounding relieved, and with that he leant to press a kiss to her cheek. "I'm going to go to bed, Edwin says he'll wake me at five tomorrow morning, but I'll have the afternoon free after lunch."

"What about me?" Carrie asked, glad at the thought of some work to take her mind of her increasing worries, but Teddy only shrugged.

"He didn't say anything about you." he admitted apologetically, and she did her best not to look disappointed.

_I've been shunned_, she thought dismally, but forced herself to muse:

"Well, maybe I'll come and visit you, see how it's going."

"I'd like that!" Teddy said brightly, but at the tight hug that he bestowed upon her a second later Carrie was sure that her enthusiasm hadn't been very convincing. "Goodnight Sweetheart." he murmured, dropping a kiss atop her head, and for a moment she found herself desperate to cling onto him and not let him go.

"Goodnight Ted." she whispered, reluctantly prising herself away from him, and as soon as he had turned to head for his room she closed the door again, keen that if she couldn't have Teddy she'd have nobody at all.


	8. Sugar Rush

_Note: I've decided to write slightly shorter chapters in the hope that I might manage to post at least vaguely regularly! Thanks very much to my reviewers, you make me smile!_

_I'm not really very pleased with this chapter, but I've decided to throw all caution to the wind and post it anyway! Look out for a whole lot of drama and some Carrie/Teddy fluff in the next chapter! Meanwhile, try and enjoy this meagre offering, and resign yourselves to the fact that I will not apologise for the final few lines! (Let's face it, I never do!) :-)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**8: Sugar Rush**

The watch upon her wrist read noon when Carrie Winters finally admitted to herself that she was lost.

She had been trailed through the woods for what she supposed was hours, wandering aimlessly amongst the trees, attempting a vague circular path so as to keep from straying too far from the village. But she had become so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed the ground beneath her feet growing steep, nor noticed the layer of leaves growing deeper upon the forest floor, not raked away from the well used routes surrounding the cottages.

The muggle paused in her slow pace to glance around at her surroundings, frowning deeply.

She had awoken late again that morning and found herself eating a lonely breakfast, for she had been the only person left in the house. Once washed and dressed she had spent a while clearing up the breakfast things that had been left out at the table, musing that she felt quite at a loss about what to do with her morning, since Remus and Dora were not there to offer any guided excursions. She had settled on going for a stroll to make the best of the bright morning sunshine, only to hesitate.

She still didn't feel comfortable being spotted out and about by people, being recognised. Surely word would spread; _there goes the muggle girl who visited Carter Cottage_...

Which was how she had come to shunning her bright red coat in favour of something far less obvious and far less muggle – a deep plum coloured cloak, lined with fur and sporting a hood, which she discovered in Remus and Dora's room, folded neatly at the bottom of a trunk. Carrie had never seen Dora wear this particular garment before, and she had to admit that it seemed a rather elaborate choice for a wander in the woods, but the only other cloak to be found belonged to Remus and was much too long not to trip Carrie up as she walked.

As it turned out the cloak was a good choice, for despite the sunshine it was a bitterly cold day, not much warmer than the previous evening after dark. Carrie was quickly glad of the thick fur lining and the hood that she could draw up over her head to stop the wind upon the back of her neck. She'd amused herself quite merrily, wandering through the trees, swathed in fur and joining in with the birds' whistling from the treetops above. It was calming, being alone in the woods, the fresh air seemed to help clear Carrie's mind, which had wandered back to the events of the previous evening. She'd concluded after a while that really something needed to change. She needed to change...

And that had been when she'd noticed that she'd gotten herself lost.

Upon coming to a halt, it became apparent to Carrie that her legs were growing tired from her wandering and so she carefully hitched up the cloak about her waist and sat down upon the ground, arranging the furry material in her lap. She was just gazing thoughtfully at her watch again, wondering how far she had wandered and whether or not she could make it up to the hills where Teddy and the villagers would be hard at work until lunch, or if it would be more sensible to simply find her way straight back to the village, when a voice from high above made her jump.

"That's a rather lovely choice of cloak, you know."

Carrie's gaze snapped skyward as she looked searchingly amongst the trees for the speaker, and upon spotting Kit Carter perched upon a branch above her, a broad smile upon his face, the muggle offered him a scowl.

"Do all you Valley boys hide in trees to startle passersby?" she asked irritably as he dropped neatly down onto the ground in front of her, making her flinch.

The animagus looked somewhat taken aback by her less than enthusiastic greeting, but nevertheless he plastered a fresh smile onto his face and admitted:

"Most of us do, I'm afraid."

"Well you shouldn't." Carrie informed him bluntly. "You nearly scared me to death! What were you doing up there, anyway?"

"Nothing." Kit said, dropping down to sit beside her. "Just...keeping out of Uncle Alucard's way, I suppose..." he trailed off rather uncertainly, before sitting a little straighter and repeating: "That's a rather lovely cloak."

"It's not mine." Carrie said, not really very interested in talking about the cloak because she had a much more pressing subject to bring up. "Do you make a habit of looking through girls' bedroom windows as well as climbing trees?"

Admittedly spotting the little bird perched upon the window ledge the previous evening had neither startled or particularly concerned Carrie at the time, she had been far too preoccupied with Remus and Dora and feeling anxious about Samuel and the rest of the family. But since giving it another thought it had occurred to her just what she thought of Kit's behaviour. It was odd. Weird. Utterly unacceptable!

"Oh..." Kit mumbled, face flushing a bright shade of pink. "I...I meant to...to talk to you about that, actually..." he trailed off into silence, head ducked as he reached to fiddle with a fallen leaf, shredding it with nervous fingers.

"Well?" Carrie asked impatiently after a moment. "What on earth did you think you were doing? I could've...I could've been in bed or...or getting undressed or something!"

"Yes...well I...I didn't really think of that..."

"I should hope not!"

"I just wanted to speak to you!" the wizard protested, shifting uncomfortably as he turned to look at her, and he looked so dreadfully nervous that Carrie felt compelled to stop scowling at him. "I was worried, you see! I didn't mean to make you late for dinner, Uncle Alucard was so delighted to have a visitor and...and it was so nice to have somebody different in the house, it's only ever the two of us and I completely forgot about the time! I know Mr. Lupin didn't mind, but I don't suppose Edwin would be pleased if...if he knew where you'd been...and...and I heard raised voices when I went out after supper...so I...I just thought I'd check you were alright! Of course I shouldn't have gone to the window like that...Merlin knows what you must think of me after that!" Before Carrie could utter bad-tempered agreement, the wizard frowned deeply and muttered: "Or after Edwin's had his say, even. You probably ought have ran a mile from me by now."

There was a rather long silence as he stared dejectedly into his lap and Carrie wondered quite what to say. Her unease around Kit was, she was sure, entirely his own fault and had nothing to do with Edwin or even Samuel's ranting. But he looked so downtrodden and miserable that she found she didn't have the heart to point this out to him.

"Actually," she said instead, "Edwin's alright with everything...kind of..." When Kit gave a snort of disbelief, she explained: "He and Remus, they've come to an understanding of sorts. They've agreed to...disagree about you."

Kit gave a miserable sniff and mumbled:

"Well that's good of them."

"It is." Carrie agreed brightly, but he only hunched his shoulders, expression despairing. The muggle supposed it would be kind to change the subject, so she asked: "What's it like, having wings and being able to fly?"

She had thought he might cheer up to talk about something that was so obviously impressive as opposed to the usual negatives, but he merely sighed heavily and murmured:

"It's...free. That's why I learnt, I wanted to be free, I wanted to be invisible to people so they would leave me alone."

"That's sad." Carrie told him solemnly. "If I were to learn to be a bird I'd not want to hide away in trees all day, I'd want to fly as high in the sky as I could, just to know what it felt like."

"That's what broomsticks are for." Kit pointed out, only for the muggle to remind him:

"Not to me they're not. My people sweep floors with them, if anything at all."

At long last he looked up at her, a soft huff of amusement escaping his lips.

"Suppose they do." he mused, lips curving into a smile as he admitted: "I've never met a muggle before, you know, you're my first."

"How exciting for you." Carrie murmured dryly, and the animagus gave a rather nervous chuckle.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you're special or something...not that you're not special, you are it's just...well you're not...you're not really any different from anybody else."

Carrie felt herself almost instantly warming to him. She remembered Edwin just a few days previously: _a muggle! Everybody's so excited!_

She had always hated being singled out, it made her nervous and indignant because she wasn't some sort of fairground attraction for witches and wizards to gawp at. She was just a muggle, the entire country was swarming with them! So it was nice not to be special...

Except apparently she _was_ special...

It was then that Carrie realised that she was blushing. In fact one glance at Kit suggested that she wasn't the only one. All of a sudden everything seemed a little bit awkward and Carrie felt quite relieved when Kit hurriedly cleared his throat rather meaningfully to ask:

"Would you...would you like a drink? If you've been out here for...for such a long while..."

Carrie was pretty sure that she hadn't mentioned just how long she had been walking for, but she had to admit that she really was rather thirsty and it was a welcome distraction from their sudden awkwardness.

"Yes please...if you've got one, that is..." she mumbled, only to jump when Kit leapt to his feet.

"I'll go and fetch one!" he announced, grinning broadly, and with that he promptly ignored Carrie's protests that he not trouble himself and set off through the trees at a sprint, only to leap abruptly into the air and within the blink of an eye the young man had vanished, there was the fluttering of feathers and a small bird disappeared into the treetops.

As quiet once again descended upon her surroundings, Carrie rose idly to her feet and wandered on through the trees a little. She had to admit that the temptation to keep on walking until she had put a good number of paces between herself and Kit Carter when he returned was rather tempting. She hated to admit it, but he really was a rather odd sort of boy. She was beginning to feel uncomfortable around him.

She had just paused at the sound of a horse whinnying, wondering just how many animal enclosures were dotted throughout the Valley, when she heard footsteps and spun around towards their source, stunned that Kit would return so quickly. But after a moment it occurred to her that they were coming from entirely the wrong direction, and a moment later she spotted a familiar looking figure striding through the trees towards her.

"Dora!" the muggle called, hurrying off through the trees towards the pink haired witch, who looked up from her inspection of a crumpled scrap of parchment that she promptly stuffed into her pocket, smiling brightly.

"Alright, Carrie love?" the Auror greeted cheerfully. "Coming back for lunch?"

"Is it that time already?" Carrie wondered as they came to a halt in front of one another, and Dora offered her a raised eyebrow.

"It flies in places like this, you know." she said, glancing up towards the treetops, and Carrie asked:

"Where's Remus?"

"He went ahead of me to reply to an owl." Dora said, patting her pocket vaguely as she looked back down at the muggle. "Nice cloak." she observed, and Carrie murmured:

"I think so." When Dora failed to look at all perplexed to have her trunk ransacked and her cloak borrowed without permission, Carrie admitted: "I've not seen it before."

"It was an anniversary present, I've not worn it yet." Dora explained, and Carrie struggled to resist the urge to pull the garment from her shoulders and thrust it into the witch's arms. Instead she tried not to look too guilty as the Auror reached to run her fingers across the fur lining, eying the cloak thoughtfully.

"Is it warm?"

"Toasty."

"Thought it would be."

"D'you want to swap?"

"Nah, you're alright love. What've you been up to, then? Have you had a good morning?"

As they began a slow stroll through the trees, back towards Kit's tree, Carrie frowned deeply at this question, before settling on a rather vague:

"It's been alright...I've been walking..." she didn't really want to mention Kit Carter, even if he would no doubt reappear at any moment to offer her a drink, so instead she asked: "What about you?"

"We went down to the lake."

"There's a lake?"

"A little one, it's quite a walk away..."

Talk of the lake continued on until they reached Kit's tree and Carrie found herself lingering, albeit reluctantly.

"It's...it's Kit." she admitted when Dora noticed that she had stopped walking. "He's...gone to get me something to drink...I'd walk back to the village and get one, only he insisted and...well, I don't want to be rude..."

"We can wait." Dora decided, and as she turned until she could lean leisurely back against the tree, Carrie struggled to decide just what the witch thought of her continued contact with the Valley's outcast. One look at Dora's face left the muggle to settle on disinterest, which Carrie supposed wasn't surprising after the conversation she had overheard the evening beforehand. Upon recalling that conversation and the silliness that had ensued, Carrie found herself sighing heavily, and without much thought she wondered aloud:

"How long does it take?"

Dora paused in an absentminded examination of her fingernails to glance sideways at the girl stood beside her.

"Well," she mused, eyes twinkling in amusement, "I suppose that would depend, Carrie love, on what _it_ is."

Carrie gave a rather abashed chuckle, feeling her cheeks tinge pink. She kept her gaze firmly upon her shoes, hugging the cloak more tightly around her.

"How long does it take to...be like you?"

"_Be like me_?"

"Like you are...with Remus, I mean. Like...like how you can say anything to one another without worrying what the other will think...or...or even not say anything because you can guess each others' thoughts. Or like...like how you can hold hands without even noticing or...or kiss without blushing or feeling shy around each other."

"How long did it take for me to be entirely comfortable and confident around the person I'm in love with?"

"Exactly. How long did it take you?" Carrie looked up, gaze upon the witch eager, and Dora puffed her cheeks, a mixture of amusement and uncertainty.

"Well...that's a rather difficult question. It's not something that just happens, it's a gradual thing."

"Yes but...but how long does it take?"

"I've been married for twenty years, Carrie, I don't think I remember when I stopped thinking about holding hands and just did it, or when it was I decided I could tell Remus to shut up without him thinking I was being rude! My memory's not that brilliant! It happens when it happens, and you can't judge against anybody else, we all have different situations and personalities to consider...is this about Ted?"

"No." Carrie flinched a little at her abrupt denial and Dora gave a disbelieving snort.

"You know," the witch recalled, "in most respects you're not a bit like me, Carrie love, but we do happen to have one thing in common."

"We both have excellent taste when it comes to cloaks?"

"Mm...two things, then."

"What's the second thing?"

"You and Teddy were friends before you started dating. The same goes for Remus and me. And that's the best way to do it, because there's only so far being the world's best kisser can get you. If it's going to last you've got to be best friends first and then snog one another senseless later. But just because it's the best way, doesn't make it the easiest." Dora paused to glance round to find that Carrie had gone back to staring at her shoes, face a flood of colour, and the witch gave a light chuckle before folding her arms firmly across her chest. "If some random bloke down the pub thinks you're a dodgy dancer, or the worst flirt he's ever met...well that's embarrassing but at the end of the day who gives a toss? Move on to the next one...except of course you can't just move on to your next best friend, can you? Friendship takes time and effort! There's a whole lot more at stake, when you're in love with a friend, and it's a terrifying thing, it really is. You think you know them perfectly, but of course then you discover that you don't...because you're both suddenly caught up in trying to impress one another. Even when you never really tried before! And that's the thing, Carrie love, it takes time for things to settle down...for the pair of you to stop trying so bloody hard! And then, _slowly_, you stop obsessing about if he's going to think you look nice today because you remember that time before you started going out, when he came round to your house and you answered the door in those embarrassingly patterned pyjamas your gran bought you for Christmas. And you'll remember how the two of you laughed about it and it will occur to you that he'll probably think you stunning if you showed up wearing a bin liner held up by some garden string! And then, once you've both realised just how daft you're being...well...that's probably when it happens. That's when you end up like Remus and me." For a moment, Dora smiled proudly at this conclusion, before giving an exaggerated sigh and adding: "_Then_, before you even notice, you've been together for far too long and you've got _habits_ and _routines_ and all of those things your parents had that used to make you roll your eyes and think they were boring."

Carrie let out a giggle, only for the witch to inform her solemnly:

"It's wonderful." Dora turned further around to face the muggle, leaning forward until she was close enough to whisper. "Listen to me, Carrie." she said, hand reaching to grasp hold of the muggle firmly by the shoulder, causing Carrie to feel suddenly rather nervous. "I know you think you can't talk to me about...some things, because Ted's my son. But that doesn't make any difference, I promise. And if you don't want to talk to me you could always...you could always talk to your Aunt Susan."

Carrie gave a rather squeaky chuckle.

"Aunt Susan's not had a boyfriend since the Dark Ages." she pointed out, struggling to meet the Auror's eye. "In fact I'm not sure she's ever...well..."

"Well?"

"Nothing."

"Mm...well I've done _nothing_ plenty of times, so you're stuck with me then."

Carrie swallowed the nervous lump in her throat.

"Looks like it." she mumbled, and Dora rolled her eyes.

"Don't look so petrified, for Merlin's sake!" the witch exclaimed. "Honestly, this isn't another one of _those_ talks, Remus is the only one who does those, it's far more amusing! No, all I'm saying, love, is we can talk about Teddy...or just boys in general if you like, we can talk about anything like that...even _nothing_ if it comes to it...whenever you want. And it doesn't matter that Ted and I are related, because at the end of the day I might be his mum but you're my girl, aren't you? And I want what's best for _both_ of you. Alright?"

"Alright." Carrie mumbled, feeling a little better, and Dora reached to straighten the cloak about the muggle's shoulders as she smiled and said:

"Good."

There was a sizeable pause before the muggle found herself blurting:

"I think Kit likes me. Like..._like_ likes me."

"Bloody fantastic." Dora observed, mock-brightly. "And do you like him?"

"What?"

"I said do you like him?"

"Of course not! Not like that! I've got Teddy..."

"Alright, just checking. So, what are you going to do about it?"

"What am I going to do...?" Carrie mumbled, feeling a little alarmed at such a blunt question. "Well...I don't know...I suppose I was thinking of...ignoring him..."

"Ignoring him?"

"Yeah..."

"No, you can't do that."  
>"I can't?"<p>

"No, that's either rude or playing hard to get. You'll just have to explain to him that you're terribly flattered and all but you've got Ted, thanks very much."

"Just...just like that?"

"Just like that. Don't make a big thing of it, you'll embarrass him even more than is necessary."

"Right..." Carrie was just wondering what the chances were of all of this being as simple as it sounded when she heard footsteps and Dora sucked in a deep breath and observed:

"That'll be him, then."

Carrie's eyes widened in panic.

"You want me to tell him now?" she hissed, only for Dora to shrug her shoulders unhelpfully as Kit hurried towards them. Carrie hastily plastered a smile onto her face.

"Wow!" she exclaimed as enthusiastically as she could manage when she caught sight of the carefully held glassful of blood-red liquid that he was carrying carefully in both hands as if frightened to spill a single drop. "What's that? Is it...is it wine?"

"Of course not!" Kit laughed, seemingly very pleased with himself indeed as he stopped just in front of her. The young wizard offered Dora a bright smile in greeting before holding out the glass for Carrie to take. "It's juice made from the berries we pick in the woods!"

"Homemade?" Carrie said as she took the icy cool glass from him, and he sounded proud to tell her:

"That's right!"

"How lovely," Carrie said, glancing sideways at Dora to find that the witch had gone back to inspecting her fingernails, disinterested. "We never have anything like that back at home. My aunt doesn't really have time to make things." As he watched her keenly, Carrie lifted the glass to her lips and took an experimental sip...and promptly had to suppress a grimace. The juice was unbearably sweet, like eating sugar with a spoon, and as she forced herself to take a few generous gulps Carrie barely managed to suppress a shudder. There was only one thing for it, she realised as she glimpsed Kit's smiling face through the glass, if she was to have any hope of politely finishing the sickly concoction she was going to have to down it in one...

"D'you like it?" Kit asked as she swallowed another mouthful, followed by another, and as her stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch Carrie was forced to abandon her endeavour, leaving a good couple of mouthfuls left in the glass.

"Mm, it's lovely!" she exclaimed, turning quickly to thrust the glass into Dora's hand. "Try it, Dora, it's wonderful!"

Dora looked from the glass to the pleading expression on Carrie's face, before plastering an equally as enthusiastic smile onto her face. And with that, the Auror drained the glass without so much as a flinch. It was, Carrie thought, acting worthy of an Oscar as she watched the witch even lick the remainder of the ghastly drink from her lips and announce:

"How unusual! You'll have to give Carrie the recipe for it, Kit. We could make it back home, couldn't we Carrie love?"

Carrie was too busy attempting to wash the sickly taste from her mouth with copious amounts of saliva. Dora handed the glass back to Kit, offering him a raised eyebrow, cocking her head in the muggle's direction as she concluded:

"See, it's utterly stunning!" Reaching to give Carrie a firm shove forwards a few steps she announced: "Well, we're late for lunch! So we better be on our way, hadn't we?"

Kit's face instantly fell, and he looked deeply worried.

"I've made you late for Edwin again?" he said, eyes widening anxiously. "I...I had no idea, I didn't mean..."

"You're alright, Kit." Dora assured him, reaching to pat him on the shoulder as they passed him. "It's lunch, not a court hearing."

Kit gave a nervous chuckle, his confidence apparently battered.

"Goodbye, then!" he called, and Carrie turned to wave at him, calling a goodbye of her own.

"I didn't tell him." the muggle muttered to the witch as they marched off through the trees a moment later, and Dora waved a dismissive hand.

"I don't care," she muttered, reaching to swipe a sleeve across her mouth. "If I don't go and wash my mouth out right now I swear...!"

As the two of them both dissolved into laughter, it seemed to Carrie that things seemed far more like normal than they had done the previous day, and she felt compelled to make it stay that way.

"Dora?" she mumbled a couple of minutes later, staring determinedly ahead because she couldn't quite bring herself to look sideways at the witch. "I've been thinking...about...well...me and you...you and Remus, I mean. I think...no, I _know_. I know I've been...well...relying on the two of you an awful lot. More than I should, I mean. And...well, I know that's...that's difficult for you, especially right now whilst we're here...isn't it?"

Dora didn't reply, it made Carrie's stomach twist into knots, but she was determined to carry on anyway.

"What I'm trying to say," she said, having drawn in a deep and determined breath, "is that I know that I need to learn to stand on my own two feet...I manage it well enough when I'm at University, so I need to learn to do it the rest of the time too. Because it's not your job to look after me...you shouldn't have to put up with all of my drama and all of my silly mistakes. I'm sorry, you know, that I've cause you so much trouble over the years..."

"Carrie..." Dora mumbled, but the muggle shook her head vigorously.

"I know what you're going to say." she said, waving a dismissive hand in the witch's direction. "You're going to say you don't mind, or that it's not all my fault or something like that. But you...you do mind, I'm sure you do, and it is all my fault most of the time. You shouldn't have to fight my battles for me, or anything like that, I have to do it all for myself because I'm not a little girl anymore, I'm...I'm a grown up woman, aren't I, Dora?"

Once again, Dora didn't respond.

"I am, aren't I?" Carrie said, feeling her stomach give a nervous lurch...

It was at that moment that she realised that she could no longer hear Dora's footsteps beside her, and so the muggle came to a confused halt.

"Dora...?" she said, turning to glance sideways to where the witch had ben walking beside her...

_Thud_.

At the sudden sound, Carrie spun around to look back through the trees, and promptly gasped in panic to find a motionless Dora lying face down upon the leafy ground. 


	9. Growing Up

_Note: This turned out longer than I expected, so the fluff will have to wait until next chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**9: Growing Up**

The impact as she threw herself down onto the ground made her knees sting in protest, but Carrie barely noticed the sudden pain because the thudding of her heart against her ribcage felt consuming.

The panic was overwhelming as she reached to grasp hold of the lifeless witch by the shoulder, giving her a firm shake.

"Dora! Dora, wake up!"

Her pleading demands fell on deaf ears and when Dora failed to stir, Carrie forced herself to suck in a deep breath. And then she held it.

_Calm down_, she told herself firmly as a bird fluttered past amongst the trees, apparently oblivious to the terrible situation below. _Calm down, stop panicking and calm down._

Slowly, she let the air seep back out from her lungs, and by the time she drew another breath she found herself feeling suddenly calmer.

_Good_, she thought, giving herself one last little shake just to be sure. _Now think, Carrie. Think..._

She tried to think of what one was supposed to do when somebody collapsed, but all she could really think of was calling an ambulance...

_Well that's not going to do any good! _

The panic was beginning to seep back into her mind, her racing heart was beginning to thud in her ears again, but then...

_Her pulse! Check her pulse!_

For a second, Carrie found herself pausing, fingers hovering above the Auror's neck as she asked herself a very troubling question indeed: _What if she didn't find a pulse? What if Dora didn't have one?_

"Shut up." the muggle told herself aloud. "Just shut up, she'll have one, she will...d'you hear, Dora? I'm warning you, I don't know how to do CPR so...so you better be messing around or...or something...you are, you must be, you were fine earlier...you...you were, you were just fine, you can't just..."

She hurriedly bit her tongue to silence herself and before she could think better of it reached forward to feel for a pulse...

There it was. Carrie allowed herself a small sigh of relief as the comfortingly steady beats pulsed against her fingers, and she very nearly laughed aloud at just how frightened she had felt because it seemed immediately daft, utterly stupid.

Because Dora Lupin couldn't just drop dead. She simply couldn't. Carrie couldn't quite explain to herself why this was a fact, but it was one, it was as simple as that.

It was at that moment that Carrie noticed something that made her stomach twist into tight knots and she had to admit to herself that despite her small victory she was still feeling frightened. The ends of Dora's hair had grown dull and pale, and Carrie watched as before her eyes the bright pink strands were sapped of their colour, the bleak, lifeless shade seeping steadily up towards the roots.

Carrie shuddered, and hastily forced herself into action. Reaching to push her arms underneath the witch, she struggled to roll her over onto her back.

At the movement and fresh air upon her face, Dora stirred a little, her brow creasing deeply as a soft groan escaped her lips. Carrie peered down at her hopefully. The witch's heart shaped face had grown deathly pale, and she appeared to have managed to split her lip upon something sharp upon the ground, it was a minor injury, and yet the smeared blood upon her lips seemed so bright in contrast to her skin that the sight made Carrie feel queasy.

"Dora?" Carrie said loudly, reaching uncertainly to tap her patient upon the cheek, and she was surprised when the seemingly semi-conscious Auror managed to mutter:

"Sto' that. 'S annoying."

"S...sorry..." Carrie mumbled as Dora's eyes fluttered open, only for her to groan and close them again. There was a sizeable pause and when Dora failed to stir again Carrie hurriedly reached to tap her on the face again.

"Dora!"

"'Said _stop that_." the witch insisted, and Carrie gave a little jump.

"Sorry..." she mumbled again as the groggy witch frowned deeply. "I thought...I thought you'd passed out again..."

"No such luck..." Dora whispered, screwing her eyes more firmly shut. "Bloody hell...I think I...I..."

"You what?" Carrie asked rather desperately. "What happened? What...what should I do?"

"B...bloody...hell..." Dora murmured thickly, sounding worryingly vague.

"Dora!" Despite herself, Carrie reached to tap her face again, but this time the witch didn't seem to notice. "Dora...stay awake! Please...I...I don't know what to...what to do! Tell...tell me..."

For a moment, Dora did little but groan again, but Carrie supposed this was better than nothing, at least she hadn't passed out. Determined to get some sense out of the witch, Carrie reached to take her face firmly in her hands, fingers grasping at her dull, pale hair.

"Dora, listen to me..." she began, only to pause a little, not sure how to carry on. She supposed it was because this wasn't the sort of situation she was used to finding herself in. Usually it was the other way around...

_Carrie, listen to me..._

What would Dora say? If it were the other way around...

"Listen carefully," Carrie decided, because that was a likely beginning. Because Dora always implored her to listen carefully, for all the good it did her. "You're going to be alright. I promise." She wasn't sure whether or not this was true, but it was what Dora always said so it would have to do. "But I need you to talk to me...to trust me. I'm going to...I'm going to help you, I promise I won't let anything bad happen but I need your help..." That wasn't right. Dora never needed Carrie's help, not ever...

Carrie's thoughts were interrupted by Dora managing to breathe:

"Move m...me...mm...sigh..."

"What? Move what?" Carrie leant forward until her ear was almost brushing the Auror's bloody lips.

Dora drew in a deep breath and, seemingly concentrating furiously, mumbled:

"Move me onto my...my side."

"Move you onto your side?"

"Mm..."

"Oh...right! Right then! Yes, I'll just...right..."

As the muggle set about rolling her sideways, the Auror let out another groan of protest.

"Oh...oh Merlin..." she complained. "Oh Merlin..."

"It's alright!" Carrie insisted. "There, you're on your side! Now...now what?"

Another deep breath later and Dora managed another reasonably coherent sentence:

"Now won't choke...if vomit..."

"Now you aren't going to choke if you vomit." Carrie agreed, shuddering a little at the accompanying mental image. "G...good! That's good...great, even! Now...now what do I do?"

"Help..."

"Yes, I'm helping, but how..."

"Get...help. Get Remus."

"Yes..." Carrie found herself looking wildly around as if she might simply spot Remus somewhere amongst the trees, but all she saw was empty woodland, an unfamiliar, unmarked trail...

"I...I don't know where we are!" she realised, "I...I don't know the way back on my own, Dora...tell me!"

But when her gaze snapped back down to look at the witch, she found to her dismay that Dora appeared to have passed out again.

Alone and left to her own devices, Carrie felt panic begin to seize hold of her again, and for a moment she simply collapsed forward, burying her face in Dora's cloak in despair.

She felt sick, she realised, so very, very sick...

Sick with worry, sick with nerves...

Or just plain sick?

_Oh Merlin_, the muggle thought in horror, what if she was truly sick? Like Dora was sick...what if Carrie was next? What if she was about to collapse herself? She'd drunk the berry juice too...

Because it was the berry juice. It had to be, Dora had been absolutely fine before Carrie had thrust that glass into her hands. At this thought, Carrie felt a horrible sense of guilt swelling up in her chest. It was silly, she thought furiously as she grasped fistfuls of Dora's cloak in horror, so very, very silly of her! If it had tasted that bad, why on earth would she give it to Dora in the first place? She should have tipped it into the bushes, or just told Kit Carter how ghastly it was...

Kit Carter. This was all his fault, it had to be! The villagers were right about him, he was wicked! And Carrie had been stupid enough to think otherwise. She felt so utterly wretched, so ashamed of herself that for a moment she contemplated simply curling herself up into a ball at Dora's side, waiting for whatever evil concoction Kit had fed her to take hold as it had Dora. Perhaps she'd feel better, falling into darkness...

But what about Dora?

_No_, Carrie told herself firmly, forcing herself up into a sitting position. She couldn't just give up, she had to do something, for Dora's sake at least. She had to try and get help from somewhere, and she had to do it quickly before she passed out herself.

_I'm not going to pass out_, she told herself defiantly as she scrambled to her feet. _I won't do it, I refuse, you won't get me, Kit Carter, because Dora needs help..._

For a moment, she found herself looking wildly around again in the vain hope that she might decide upon which way the village was, but the pathway before her forked left and right, and she had no idea which way to go. She couldn't risk getting any more lost, she realised, she needed to know precisely where Dora was, so that she could come back to her.

The only direction in which Carrie knew she could go with any real confidence was backwards, but that would lead her further away from the village.  
>Carrie let out a hiss of frustration, her gaze drifting skywards towards the treetops. If only she could climb trees like Samuel and Kit could, she thought dismally, then perhaps she would be able to gage exactly where she was, or even see the village from one of the highest branches...<p>

It was then, whilst gazing up at the sky, that an idea struck the muggle and she gasped in a triumphant breath...

Reaching the highest branches might have been unthinkable for Carrie herself, but it sounded simple enough for others in the woods, more than easy in fact.

Winged horses could fly above the treetops. Even back to the village! And though she had seen nothing but trees what the past few hours, Carrie could recall hearing the distinct sound of a horse nearby back by Kit's tree...

And surely all horses in this valley had wings, surely normal horses just weren't magical enough!

With the briefest glance at Dora still out cold upon the ground, Carrie sprinted back through the trees, retracing their steps from just a short while earlier. The sickness in her gut seemed to fade a little now that she had something to focus on, a mission of sorts, and she ran all the way back to Kit's tree, where she paused, panting and out of breath, bent forward to lean her hands upon her knees.

_Don't stop_, she thought wildly, _you might not have very long_...

Breathless, Carrie staggered off in the vague direction in which she had heard the noise earlier, frustrated at her ragged breathing which seemed so loud that she thought it unlikely that she would hear another sound at all...

Or perhaps she would...

There it was again, the unmistakable whinnying of a horse, and at the sound of it Carrie forced herself into a brisk jog. She reached the edge of a large clearing, and failed to suppress a shout of triumph at the sight that met her eyes. It was a small, grassy paddock enclosed by a sturdy wooden fence, much like that which Carrie had been working in the previous day. A lone winged horse stood beside a water trough. The pale brown creature eyed the approaching muggle with mild interest, before tossing its head with a huff.

"Hello..." Carrie murmured in greeting as she reached the fence, and for a moment she stood, leaning against the wooden structure whilst eying the horse in consideration. As it gave its feathered wings a shake, Carrie stared the horse directly in the eye. To her surprise the horse paused in its fidgeting to stare straight back at her. It had been tethered to a nearby post by a long length of rope, and Carrie sucked in a deep, nervous breath as she willed herself to go and untie it.

"I don't much like flying." she admitted aloud, as if the horse might somehow be able to put her mind at ease. "I don't like heights and I'm scared I'll fall...and I've never ridden a horse before either...not even a normal one."

The winged horse merely gave another huff and tossed its head.

At the thought of Dora still lying motionlessly back amongst the trees, Carrie screwed her eyes firmly shut and silently commanded herself to summon some courage. She found herself recalling many years previously, the year that she had first met the Lupins, when Teddy had met her at the gates of her school and had lent her his red and gold striped Gryffindor scarf. He had told her that he was sure that had Carrie been a witch, the Hogwarts Sorting Hat would have made her a Gryffindor too. Recalling this notion, Carrie failed to suppress a despairing laugh. Soon after eleven year old Teddy had made that claim, Carrie had had her first major run-in with the less than pleasant aspects of the Wizarding world, and she had managed a succession of others, each more disastrous than the last. She'd coped somewhat pathetically with each and every one of them, in her own opinion, so much so that the notion that she had even a drop of Gryffindor courage in her was an utterly laughable idea. In fact, Carrie was having severe difficulty convincing herself that she was brave enough or even capable of doing anything slightly adventurous at all. She bit nervously down upon her bottom lip, grasping around for some sort of encouragement, some inspiration to launch her over the fence and into the paddock.

She found herself thinking of Remus. As she had told Teddy the previous day, Remus always seemed able to believe in Carrie, no matter what her failings. In fact, the muggle recalled, it had not been so terribly long ago since Remus had trusted Carrie with the most crucial of tasks; he'd gone as far as to betray the safety of his son, the entire Order and their children, because he had trusted Carrie to warn them, to keep them safe.

And she'd failed.

But that wasn't the point, Carrie told herself firmly, whether she had failed or not was irrelevant! She'd made up for it in the end, she'd gotten desperately needed help to the Order and without her they would all no doubt have perished. All that mattered was that Remus had trusted her then, even when Carrie had not entirely trusted herself, and she had little doubt that he'd be willing to trust her again now. He would trust her to get a grip on herself and climb over that fence. He'd trust her to ride a winged horse without managing to cause herself some sort of accident. Most importantly, he would trust her to get Dora to safety, to care for his wife who was undoubtably one of the most adored and precious people in Remus' life.

And with that final confidence bolstering though, Carrie vaulted over the fence and strode purposefully over to the winged horse. Without so much as a sideways glance at the creature, for fear that it would only make her more nervous, she went to untie the rope that was tethering the horse in its enclosure, and then, pausing to give the horse an experimental pat upon the side which it seemingly ignored, she set about tying the loose end of the rope tightly to the loop about its neck, creating a makeshift pair of reigns.

"Don't move." she told the horse firmly, though she was sure it wasn't paying her the slightest bit of attention, and with that she threw her arms around its neck, pausing to establish that once again the animal was unconcerned by her intrusion of its personal space, before grasping hold of a fistful of its mane and throwing herself up onto its back, foot pushing against the base of a feathery wing in an attempt to keep herself from sliding back to the ground.

"There!" Carrie cried triumphantly, swinging her leg over until she was sat astride the horse, tucking her feet at the base of its wings and grasping firmly hold of the rope. "Piece of cake...now...let's just...ARGH!" The muggle was forced to throw her arms around the horse's neck in terror as suddenly it reared up on its back legs with a cry, and Carrie promptly screwed her eyes shut in terror as it bolted forwards, leaping gracefully over the fence and darting off into the trees. Carrie could do nothing but cling on for dear life, and as she felt the thunder of hooves beneath her she supposed she could only be grateful that the horse had for the meantime decided to remain upon the ground. After a moment she felt a distinct loss of momentum as the horse slowed to a brisk trot, and Carrie dared open her eyes and carefully edge her way back until she was sat upright again. She set about attempting to guide the horse through the trees, back towards where she had left Dora, and was relieved by just how cooperative the animal was. She had only to give it a nudge in the side with a foot to make it change direction, though she could not shake off the anxious thought that it might have a second sudden burst of energy, or rear up and throw her to the ground.

Carrie managed to come to a neat halt by Dora's feet some minutes later, and almost immediately a sickening, abrasive smell grasped at Carrie's nostrils, making her wrinkle her nose. The muggle hastily dismounted and rushed to the Auror's side. The witch had managed to curl her knees up towards her chest, and Carrie immediately spotted the source of the smell. True to her own prediction, Dora had vomited, leaving a sickening pool of bile upon the muddy ground, the remnants still upon the witch's bloodied lips and clinging to a few stray strands of mousy hair. Though apparently conscious, her dark, glazed eyes staring blankly off into the trees, Dora had made no effort to move away from the stench.

At the sound of Carrie's footsteps and the soft thud as she dropped down beside her, Dora's gaze darted briefly up to look at the muggle, only to drop back to stare blankly at nothing in particular.

"You're awake!" Carrie observed, reaching to lay a hand upon her arm.

"Mm..." Dora mumbled, frowning deeply.

Carrie wondered how on earth she could stand to lie there, face mere inches from the stench, and the muggle hastily reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled tissue.

"Here..." she mumbled rather uncertainly, gingerly mopping the sickening concoction of blood and bile from the witch's lips and chin. She rubbed feebly at a stubborn streak of encrusted blood and came away in meagre flakes. As she worked, Dora's gaze drifted back up to stare at her, and to the muggle's confusion, the witch let out a thick chuckle.

"Merlin," the Auror mumbled, swollen lip stretched towards a grin. "Would you look at me...ha!"

"Ha..." Carrie muttered, not amused in the slightest by what she saw, but Dora merely laughed harder, slumping backwards until she was sprawled upon her back, gazing up at the sky.

"I don't think this is very funny." Carrie admitted indigently as she discarded the tissue into the bushes, nose wrinkling in disgust, and when she turned back to look down at the witch, she found the Auror's gaze upon her surprisingly stern for one whose mind appeared so fuzzy.

"Could...cry, 'f you like." she offered, and Carrie felt her cheeks flush pink.

"No...no thank you." the muggle mumbled, feeling embarrassed though she wasn't entirely sure why, and she felt worse still when Dora let out snort, her eyes drifting closed with a frown.

"What would you do...if I did?" she asked, and before Carrie could swallow the lump that formed in her throat, the Auror gave another snigger.

"Stop...stop that!" Carrie mumbled, attempting to ignore the fact that she couldn't imagine how to answer the witch's question, but Dora ignored her.

"Should hurry..." she mumbled, sounding suddenly vague again, head lolling sleepily to one side.

"I know that, I'm not an idiot!" Carrie found herself snapping, and she felt utterly furious when Dora very unconvincingly agreed:

"'Course you're not."

Before she could quite fathom what she was doing, Carrie had reached forwards to grasp hold of the witch by the shoulders, giving her a firm shake until she opened her eyes again.

"Listen!" she cried, face flooded with furious colour. "I know you think I'm useless...but...but that's not fair! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"No?" Dora mumbled, not bothering to turn her head back to look up at the muggle, and Carrie struggled to resist the urge to make her do so.

"No!" the muggle exclaimed, feeling utterly livid. "You don't have a clue! I mean...LOOK!" She thrust a furious figure forward to point at the winged horse that was standing idly by Kit's tree.

Dora slowly moved until she could look over at the horse, and Carrie felt stung by her underwhelmed:

"Oh..."

"Yes, _oh_!" Carrie cried, reaching to slide her arms somewhat roughly underneath the witch. "So shut up and let me get on with it!"

As she was jerked up into a sitting position, Dora screwed her eyes shut against the world lurching about her, and Carrie felt a sudden wash of guilt when the witch groaned, her chin coming to rest upon the muggle's shoulder. But before Carrie could mumble something apologetic, Dora reached to sling a worryingly uncoordinated arm around her neck.

"Good girl." the Auror breathed, and as she tried to steady her, Carrie asked:

"What?"

"'Stand up to me, you can stand up to anything, love." the witch slurred, slumping further forward. "So go on, gimme the finger..." And with that, the nausea of movement finally overcame her, and she passed out.

For a moment, Carrie simply froze, hugging the limp figure to her, a swell of courage blossoming in her chest. It began to dawn on her that Dora slipping into darkness once again no longer frightened her, because without noticing Carrie had, in the last ten minutes or so, managed to emulate her guardian angels flawlessly.

It hadn't even taken much effort.

Over the years there had often been times where Carrie had wished for Remus' composure, or for Dora's fierce determination and dazzling confidence. She would concentrate furiously on the two of them in an attempt to copy them, with only marginal success.

And yet here she was, cooly riding a winged horse and mopping the vomit from Dora's deathly pale face as if it were ice cream off a toddler. Here she was telling Dora Lupin of all people to _shut up and let me get on with it_!

Carrie felt utterly invigorated. She wondered if that had been Dora's intention in the first place, if she had baited the muggle on purpose. But it didn't matter either way, Carrie reminded herself, because her furious outburst had left her confidence to soar.

And that was why dragged Dora over to the horse's side a minute later, no doubt giving her a graze or two along the way, didn't daunt Carrie, no matter how difficult it seemed.

"How about," the girl found herself telling the unconscious Auror as she struggled to drag her a few more steps, "losing a bit of weight before you ever do this again? Not difficult for you, is it? You could...you could morph yourself smaller...how in Merlin's name am I going to get you up on the horse?"

This was, Carrie discovered a moment later, a very good question indeed. But where before she would have very nearly burst into tears at this tricky situation, Carrie found it simply exasperating more than anything else. In her struggling she entirely forgot her panic at the thought that she herself might collapse too, indeed had she cared to notice she would have realised that she no longer felt sick in the slightest.

At long last, she managed to get Dora slumped precariously across the horse's back, and she hastily climbed up behind her, one hand gripping hold of the make-shift reigns and the other reaching to pin Dora in place to stop her from slipping back down towards the ground.

"Right, let's go then!" she told the horse impatiently, giving the reigns a rather uncertain shake. The horse didn't move a muscle. Gritting her teeth determinedly, Carrie gave it a firm nudge beneath the wings with her feet, and was promptly forced to abandon her hold upon the reigns so that she could throw herself forward, grabbing hold of Dora with both hands as the horse gave a huff, spreading it's wings. It bolted along the pathway, and Carrie thought they might run straight into a fast approaching tree, only for the creature to beat its wings and with that, they soared up into the air above the treetops.

The village became visible almost immediately, a large break in the trees with smoke drifting lazily up towards the sky from cottage chimneys. The horse swooped gracefully through the air, and yet Carrie didn't feel graceful in the slightest, struggling to keep Dora from falling to her death whilst attempting to guide the horse in the right direction.

Indeed, it was no surprise that they crashed.

They were dropping surprisingly neatly down beside Edwin's cottage when Carrie's grip upon Dora finally failed, and as she lurched sideways to grab at the front of the Auror's clothes with a shriek of panic, the horse panicked too at the sudden shift of weight upon its back, instantly dropping straight down towards the ground, veering wildly sideways until they struck the rickety wooden fence at the side of the house with an almighty crash. As wood splintered, tiny fragments shooting up into the air, the impact jolted Dora sideways, Carrie heard the distinct sound of ripping material and as a fistful of blouse came off in her hand, the muggle watched in panic as the Auror fell to the ground with an thud.

Still gripping hold of the material in her hand, Carrie simply froze, heart hammering in panic her her chest, her breathing ragged and gasping, and before she could utter something suitably horrified about their crash landing the door to the cottage had been flung wide open and she heard a rush of footsteps.

Shakily, Carrie turned, reaching to cling to the startled horse's mane as it tossed its head in alarm, shifting its feet uncomfortably. Numbly, the girl watched Edwin, Remus, Teddy and Samuel come bolting down the pathway towards her.

Edwin paused just short of the scene, apparently entirely missing Dora lying sprawled amongst the remains of the fence as he stared up at the muggle clinging to the horse with wide, horrified eyes.

"What the bloody hell...!" the man began, as if he had never seen such a shambolic display in all his life, only for him to be cut off by Remus darting past him, at a sight more urgent by far.

"Dora!" the werewolf threw himself to his knees beside the unconscious figure of his wife, and Carrie watched silently as he reached to cup her pale face in his hands, his usual calm badly shaken.

"Oh Merlin!" Edwin exclaimed, rushing forward with Teddy and Samuel so that they could cluster themselves around the casualty. "What...what happened?"

"Is...is she breathing?" Teddy asked, face growing as white as a sheet as Samuel glanced from Dora to Carrie in shock.

"She's bleeding." Remus murmured, fingers completing a hasty inspection of the back of the witch's head and coming up bloody. "Sweet Merlin...get...get her inside...some...some linen and blankets and...and..."

"Move over." Edwin instructed briskly, Remus' garbled attempt at action seemingly bringing him to his senses. "Here, I've got her..."

Carrie watched the burly man reach with surprising care to scoop Dora up into his arms, and the witch stirred every so slightly, a soft moan escaping her lips.

"Shh." Carrie heard Remus whisper as he reached to sweep the hair back from her face. "It's alright, you're alright Dora, we've got you."

"Let's get her a bed." Edwin muttered, eying the Auror worriedly, and with that he turned and set off back towards the house. "Get that horse seen to, Samuel!" he added as a vague afterthought, before disappearing inside.

Carrie slowly relinquished her vice-like grip upon the horse's mane, her hands trembling, and her mind felt sluggish as she watched Remus turn to her, wiping the blood from his fingers upon the front of his trousers before holding out his hands towards the muggle. For a moment, she simply stared blankly at them, before recognising the gesture and reaching to take hold of them, allowing him to slip her carefully down from the horse's back. For a moment, they simply stared at one another, her heart still thumping in her chest, before he gave her a gentle tug towards, enveloping her in his arms.

Carrie crumpled against him, burying her face in the front of his jumper, relief beginning to seep over her, chasing the paralysing shock from her bones that had struck her upon impact with the ground.

She'd done it, she realised as she heard Samuel stepping past them towards the horse. She'd really done it, she'd gotten Dora to safety, gotten her help. And despite a haphazard ending to her little mission she felt undoubtably proud of herself.

She felt Remus reach to rest his hands upon her shoulders, and when he prised her back from him so that he could gaze down at her, Carrie felt more elated by her triumph than ever when his grip upon her shoulders tightened and he told her:

"Thank you."

It was quiet, simple thanks but Carrie was sure that this gesture was one of those great milestones in life, one that she would look back on in years to come and realise: That was it. That was when everything changed.

_That was when I finally did it. That was when I grew up. _

"Are you alright?" the werewolf asked after a moment, but Carrie couldn't think to respond. "Let me see you, turn around..."

She allowed him to turn her slowly so that he could scrutinise every inch of her with a deep frown, before she finally managed to mumble:

"I'm...I'm fine, I'm just fine...go to Dora. Just...just go to her."

He ignored her for a long moment until he had finished his inspection, concluding:

"You'll live." And with that he turned and hurried back inside.

No sooner had one set of arms released her, Carrie found herself engulfed in another pair.

"Sweet Merlin, what's going on?" Teddy exclaimed, burying his face in her hair as he crushed her against his chest. "What happened?"

"I...we...she just collapsed..." Carrie mumbled as Samuel led the horse away from the wreckage and off down the road. "I think it's...I think it's poison..."

"Poison?"

"I...I think..."

"How? What...who?" When Carrie let out a groan at the relentless questions, Teddy drew in a deep breath in an attempt to squash them all. "Well it'll be alright." he insisted, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Mum'll be alright, thanks to you." he drew back to beam down at her for a moment, telling her: "You're wonderful, did you know that?" When she merely gave a rather weary chuckle he reached to take her by the hand, suggesting: "Come on, Sweetheart. Let's go inside."

They walked, hand in hand around the house and stepped inside, where they found Edwin and Neve darting around the kitchen, ransacking cupboards and muttering frantically to one another. Trying not to feel too alarmed, Carrie allowed Teddy to lead her to the doorway of his parents' room, where they found Dora lying upon the bed, one hand clutched tightly in both of Remus' as he sat at her side, her fingers pressed to his lips as he stared down at her anxiously.

Dora was still unconscious, a slip of linen pressed under her head to keep the blood from her pillow. Her skin had grown snowy white and her hair clung to her forehead in damp, sweat soaked clumps.

The sight made Carrie feel at first utterly despairing.

And then utterly livid.

Look at them, the muggle thought furiously as Remus reached to tuck the blanket more firmly around his wife. Just look at them...

She tried to suppress the sudden rage that was coursing through her like blood, but it wouldn't go away, she couldn't stop it, it was consuming...

This was supposed to be a holiday, she thought, pulling her hand free from Teddy's grasp so that she could ball it into a fist. It was supposed to be their holiday, their time together away from it all. Away from trouble and worry, away from drama like this...

And with that, before she could reason with herself, Carrie had turned on her heel and made a beeline for the front door, ignoring Teddy's calling after her she stomped outside, drawing in a deep, determined breath of fresh air, before making a beeline for the woods, heading straight for Carter Cottage.


	10. Sweet Dreams

_Note:** This chapter contains scenes of an adult nature! **Consider yourselves warned! (Not only because they are adult, but because I've never made much of an attempt at an adult scene like this before now! Don't flame me, I know it's bad...! :-) )._

_Apologies for the lack of updates, I'm stupidly busy. In fact I should be asleep, I have lectures to go to tomorrow...in fact technically that's now TODAY..._

_Thanks for my lovely reviewers. You make me smile!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. _

**10: Sweet Dreams**

She could hear Teddy's hurried footfalls behind her, could hear him calling her name over and over, but by the time he finally caught up with her and caught hold of her somewhat roughly by the elbow it was much too late. Carrie had stomped her way up the muddy pathway to Carter Cottage and hammered a furious fist upon the door.

"Carrie, what in Merlin's name are you doing?" Teddy hissed, yanking her back a few steps though the movement was futile, and Carrie pulled herself free from him so that she could turn to stare up at him with wide eyes.

"HE DID IT!" the muggle cried, pointing a trembling finger at the door. "HE DID IT, TED, HE POISONED HER, HE...HE TRIED TO KILL HER!"

"What?" Teddy reached to push her arm back down to her side. "Stop shouting, for Merlin's sake! I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Kit Carter!" Carrie exclaimed, not bothering to lower her voice in the slightest. "He...he poisoned your mum! He gave us a drink...a...a potion, it was disgusting..._why are you looking at me like that?_"

Teddy reached to lay his hands upon her shoulders, infuriatingly non-plussed by her revelation.

"Sweetheart," he began slowly, "I know you're upset, you've had a nasty shock, but you can't just come storming over here throwing accusations this way and that..."

"What's wrong with you?" Carrie shrieked, eyes wide in frustration, and she was about to shout at him even more only for footsteps to sound behind the door, causing her to spin back round to face it instead.

"Carrie," Teddy hissed, reaching forward to press a firm hand to her elbow. "I mean it, don't..."

The door was pulled open just a little and through the gloom within Carrie could make out Kit Carter pressing his face to the gap, peering out at them rather shyly.

Carrie couldn't help but think he looked awfully guilty.

"Oh..." the animagus breathed, seemingly sighing a little in relief. "It's just you..."

"Hi Kit!" Teddy greeted, grip upon Carrie's elbow tightening, and the muggle reluctantly mumbled a polite:

"Hello."

"I...I heard raised voices." Kit explained, daring to pull the door open a little further. "Is...is everything alright?"

"Not really, not." Carrie informed him icily, making Teddy behind her flinch.

"It's my mum." the metamorphmagus announced before his girlfriend could utter anything damning. "She's been taken ill, I'm afraid."

"She has?" Kit's face visibly paled, and Carrie failed to suppress a snort at his concern. "Goodness, it's nothing serious, is it?"

"She collapsed." Carrie said, folding her arms firmly across her chest. "In the woods. After she drank your weird berry juice!" Feeling quite satisfied at the mounting horror upon Kit's face, Carrie ignored the painful grip that Teddy was bestowing upon her arm in order to demand to know: "What did you put in it?"

Kit took a small step backwards, expression pained.

"You...you think I...you think that I've...poisoned her or...or something...?"

"No, that's not what we think at all..." Teddy insisted hurriedly, only to flinch again when Carrie announced:

"That's exactly what I think!"

There was a long silence as Teddy's gaze dropped despairingly to his shoes and Kit simply stared at the muggle, stunned.

"Oh..." the animagus murmured, and he too dropped his gaze to his feet for a moment, the accusation making him sag miserably before he looked back up at the fuming girl stood behind him to quietly observe: "Well that's not possible, is it? You drank more than Mrs. Lupin did, and you look more than fine to me."

Carrie felt as if he had punched her in the gut, the fury inside her was instantly snuffed out to be replaced with complete and utter shame. She immediately hung her head, the hurt on Kit's face far too much for her to look at.

"You...you think I'm...you think I'm bad, don't you?" Kit whispered, eyes widening in agitation, and for a horrible moment Carrie thought he might even start to cry. "I...I was wrong about you, you...you believe them, don't you? You...you believe Samuel and...and his parents..."

"It's not like that!" Teddy insisted hurriedly, stepping forward and shooting the side of Carrie's head a revolted look before turning back to gaze at the despairing young man evenly. "Carrie didn't mean to suggest that you tried to poison anyone on purpose! What she meant was...well, that perhaps my mum had...had some sort of...some sort of allergic reaction, perhaps she has an allergy to...to some of the berries that you used. Right, Carrie?"

Carrie slowly uncrossed her arms before reluctantly making herself look up again.

"That's right." she agreed, fixing a suitably apologetic expression upon her face. "I didn't mean to shout, it's just I...well we're all rather worried, that's all."

"Of course you are, yes..." Kit breathed, sounding very relieved indeed, and quite suddenly he stepped over the threshold, raising a timid hand. "You um...there's a..." He reached carefully forward to pluck something out of Carrie's hair, lips twitching shyly towards a smile as he finished: "...a twig in your hair." For a moment he held the offending piece of woodland debris out for her inspection before hurriedly dropping his hand back down to his side.

Carrie gazed at him for a moment, his eyes upon her making her shift rather uneasily. For some reason she found herself musing that his eyes really were oddly mesmerizing, dark, almost black, rather like Teddy's. Yet where Teddy had inherited his mother's eyes that glittered, Kit Carter's were vast, sorrowful pools that almost made Carrie feel as if she were falling into them. She felt utterly wretched for upsetting him, indeed she had the sudden urge to reach to throw her arms around him and hug him tightly in remorse. Instead, the muggle uttered a rather awkward:

"Thanks..."

"We were just wondering," Teddy said, reaching to slide an arm around the muggle's shoulders, "if you had any of that drink left. Maybe we could...could figure out what made Mum sick."

Kit shuffled backwards so that he could lean against the doorframe.

"I'm afraid we've run out." he told the metamorphmagus regrettably, "I gave Carrie the last of it..."

It was then that there came a muffled call from inside and Kit glanced back over his shoulder to call: "It's Carrie, Uncle! She says Mrs. Lupin's been taken ill! I'll be there in just a moment!"

"We won't keep you." Teddy said as soon as Kit made to turn back to his visitors. "In fact we'd better be getting back."

"I'm sorry I couldn't help." Kit told him, though his gaze seemed to be fixed on Carrie instead. The muggle wondered if he were still upset with her accusations, despite Teddy's attempts to cover them up. "I do hope she recovers quickly."

"I'm sure she will." Teddy murmured as he and Carrie turned to head back down the pathway. "Goodbye, Kit."

"Goodbye Ted...goodbye Carrie!"

As Teddy led her swiftly back down the path, Carrie looked over her shoulder to see him offer her a small smile.

"Bye, Kit." she called, and with that he disappeared back into the gloom and the door swung shut.

"He really is very odd." Teddy mumbled a minute later as they strode back through the trees, and before Carrie could say a word he had pulled her to a sudden halt and turned to gaze down at her, face deadly serious. Carrie rather expected some lecture about her dreadful behaviour towards the poor boy she had accused, but instead Teddy reached to take hold of her hands in his and, staring at her intently asked:

"Would you do something for me?"

"Anything." Carrie told him, managing a smile. It faded in surprise when, after a long pause in which he shuffled a little self-consciously, Teddy murmured:

"Stay away from him."

"Stay away from Kit?" Carrie said, frowning ever so slightly. It wasn't that she was at all displeased with this request, indeed she was pretty sure that she'd avoid Kit Carter as much as she possibly could from then on, it was more the fact that Teddy felt compelled to ask her in the first place.

"Why?" she asked, because despite the fact it didn't matter to her, she wanted to know out of curiosity, and Teddy's cheeks tinged pink as he looked down at his shoes.

"Does...does it matter?" he mumbled, dropping one of her hands so that he could tug at the hem of his jumper.

"Not really, no. But I'd like to know all the same."

Teddy's brow creased into a deep frown and for a while he said nothing, instead preoccupying himself with more fiddling with his jumper.

"I...I don't like it..." he mumbled, apparently deeply embarrassed. "How...how he looks at you."

"Oh?" Carrie reached to take hold of his hands and he let out a rather strained chuckle.

"I'm not...I'm not saying I think he's in love with you or anything..." he mumbled, and Carrie felt quite bemused when he chuckled again and muttered: "I wish he was."

"What?"  
>"I mean, that would be...better. Maybe he is, I don't know, but he...he looks at you so strangely, like...like he's obsessed. Infatuated. And...and that's a whole lot different than...than love, it's...it's not very nice, you know, staring at you like...like he's eying up something tasty in a shop window..."<p>

Carrie failed to suppress an uncomfortable little laugh, only to bite her tongue when the sound made Teddy flinch.

"Well then," she said, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat so that she could smile up at him reassuringly, "I'll stay well clear of him, if that's what you want."

He gave a non-too relieved little sigh, and Carrie reached to throw her arms around him.

Teddy Lupin was not, and indeed never had been, prone to jealousy and nor was he a particularly possessive boyfriend. He had a wonderful, quiet confidence that appeared to leave him entirely unthreatened by any other boy who had ever set eyes upon his girlfriend and it was a trait that Carrie was certain he had inherited in part from his father.

For one who could be so utterly damning of himself should the mood take him, and for one who after twenty years still believed himself in someway unworthy of his wife, Remus Lupin was surprisingly confident about his marriage. Carrie found herself recalling one evening many months previously when she had joined the Lupins for dinner, only to find them clustered in the sitting room along with a trio of people who the muggle had recognised as colleagues of Dora's from the Auror Department.

_It's yet another office party,_ Dora had informed Carrie as she sat upon the sofa, wriggling her feet into a pair of heels, _we've decided to go in pairs. _

_It's tradition_, Jasmine Wickes had explained from her position stood clinging onto Isaac Graham's arm, _makes us all look civilised, or so they say! _

_Well they say wrong, don't they Jas?_ Robert, the third of Dora's colleagues and rumour had it her ex-boyfriend, had observed. _We're worse in pairs, we encourage one another!_ And then, to Carrie bemusement he had turned to offer Dora his hand, inquiring: _Is my partner in crime ready, then?_

_Just about,_ Dora had announced brightly, leaning sideways to press a kiss to her husband's cheek with a murmured: _don't wait up, Sweetheart_.

And Carrie had watched the four of them disappear into the floo in pairs, each arm in arm. She'd just about caught Robert's observation of: _you're looking rather stunning, you know_, before he and Dora had vanished, and when she'd turned to see what Remus made of this comment the werewolf had merely raised an eyebrow and disappeared behind a copy of the Evening Prophet.

_Don't you feel weird_, Carrie had wondered when she went to drop down into Dora's vacated seat beside him, _your wife going to a party with her ex-boyfriend or whatever he is?_

_No_, had been the distinctly disinterested response, and Carrie had frowned and reminded him:

_But he said she looks stunning!_

Remus had simply turned a page of his newspaper and murmured:

_Yes. That's because she does._

From Dora, Teddy had been taught the golden rule of relationships: equality. Carrie recalled one summer when she and Teddy had been thirteen years old, sat upon the stairs in the Lupins' hallway, the young wizard distinctly sulky as they watched his mother shuffle through the front door, fresh home from work.

_What a handsome face!_ Dora had exclaimed when she had finished hanging up her cloak, turning to catch sight of the scowl upon Teddy's face.

_It's not fair,_ her son had informer her moodily, giving his foot a juvenile little stamp, and Dora had merely agreed:

_It never is, Teddy love._

_Aren't you going to ask me what isn't fair?_ Teddy had asked, irritated that his tantrum was not going quite the way that he had planned, and Carrie had wanted to snigger when the witch had graciously leant against the wall and asked:

_What's not fair, Ted?_

And Teddy had informed his mother:

_Dad won't take us to watch Quidditch on Wednesday! _

_Well_, Dora had reminded him patiently, _that's because Dad doesn't like Quidditch._

_Mu-um!_ Teddy had complained, giving his foot yet another little stamp._ Tell him!_

_Tell him what, love?_ Dora had asked, raising an infuriating eyebrow. _That he doesn't like Quidditch?_

_N-o! _Teddy had half-shouted. _Tell him to take us on Wednesday! _

And Dora had merely laughed and told her son:

_Don't be stupid, Sweetheart. I don't tell Dad to do anything._

Teddy had spent a good few minutes grumbling that this wasn't in the least bit true and that Dora told Remus to do things all the time, and visa versa. But when Carrie thought about it conversations between Remus and Dora had a habit of being structured in a very specific way.

It was never: _Pop to the shops and fetch some milk, love._

Instead it was: _How would you like to pop to the shops for me, love?_

They never said: _Stop off at Harry's before you come back, darling._

It would be: _Could you stop off at Harry's on your way home darling, only if it's not much trouble?_

Dora never simply announced:_ I've asked_ _Mum and she's coming for dinner later, love._

She'd more likely tell her husband: _I was thinking of asking Mum over for dinner, love. D'you think we could do that some time next week? _

Questions. It was always questions, never statements of fact. Nobody was in charge, they made decisions together.

You didn't tell your loved one what to do, that was what Teddy had always learnt. You didn't stop them from making their own decisions...

No wonder, Carrie thought as she buried her face in the front of his shirt, Teddy felt so awkward and bordering on ashamed. He didn't like to attempt to tell her what to do, and she felt compelled to say something, for in truth Teddy's version of controlling was ridiculously feeble and Carrie didn't think it shameful in the slightest.

"It's what I want too." she told him, drawing back so that she could gaze up at him. "I'm glad you said something, because...well...I wondered if I were imagining it...how strange Kit is."

"No, he's very strange." Teddy sighed, sounding rather pained, and Carrie very nearly shuddered at the thought of Kit stood back in the doorway, staring at her, reaching to pull the twig from her hair. She promptly buried her fact in Teddy's chest again, sighing heavily.

"Good thing I've got you here, isn't it?" she murmured, trying not to feel too spooked. Instead she tried to focus on Teddy, how endearing his bout of nerves had been, how wonderful she thought he was. "In fact, it's a good thing I've got you _everywhere._ It's better than good, it's amazing...no, better than that it's...it's perfect. You're perfect..." she gave a slightly abashed chuckle at her ramblings, they made her feel a little silly, only for him to reach to wriggle a finger under her chin so that he could prise her face back up to look at him. For a moment they simply smiled at one another. Carrie could feel her cheeks warming, his dark, twinkling eyes upon her making her feel suddenly warm inside. She wondered why she had ended up babbling at him like some sort of nervous schoolgirl, surely they were past that, surely what Dora had said earlier was true, it was time to stop trying too hard...

"I'm not very good at romance." she informed him frankly. "I don't say the words right."

"I think you say them beautifully." Teddy told her, and Carrie rolled her eyes.

"No, I don't." she insisted, causing him to frown deeply. "But there are a few I can say without mumbling, if you like. I love you. I adore you. I think you're perfect. See...I can say things like that."

"You say those beautifully too. Because you mean them. They're all beautiful, if you mean them."

Carrie felt rather as if a weight had lifted from her chest, as if the two of them were finally beginning to see the light.

She didn't need to worry about elaborate declarations, she realised as she smiled broadly up at him, because they didn't matter. What mattered, what made them beautiful, was the meaning behind them.

And Teddy knew what she meant. He knew she loved him, he'd just said as much. And if they loved one another, what was there to be worried about? What was there to be nervous of? Why be shy of one another...

Carrie leant to press a firm, rather triumphant kiss to his lips, before giving herself a little shake to bring herself out of her thoughts.

"Come on," she murmured, "let's go and see how your mum's doing."

They arrived back at the cottage to find Neve fussing over a bubbling cauldron upon the kitchen table whilst Edwin stood at the sink, staring somewhat darkly out of the window. The two teenagers headed wordlessly for Remus and Dora's bedroom door, which had been left ajar, and when they entered the two occupants didn't appear to notice them in the slightest.

"...too much cream." Remus was murmuring from his position perch upon the edge of the bed, one arm hooked carefully about his wife's waist as he dabbed a damp cloth against the graze upon her forehead.

"'S no such thing." his patient mumbled thickly, shoulders hunched as she sat, clutching a large plastic mixing bowl in her lap, a deep frown creasing her brow as the werewolf continued to carefully mop up her wounds.

"Oh I think you'll find there is." Remus whispered into her ear, coaxing a vague smile onto her lips, and the pale-faced Auror leant backwards to lean heavily against his side.

"Never." she insisted, eyes fluttering closed as he dropped the cloth into his lap and leant to press a kiss to her forehead instead.

"Whatever it was, you scared the life out of me."

"You seem lively enough to m...uh!"

Carrie flinched and hurriedly looked at her shoes as Dora lurched abruptly forward, grasping hold of the mixing bowl as she promptly vomited into the basin.

"Better out than in." Teddy murmured as Remus hastily scraped the mousy hair back from Dora's face with one hand, the other rubbing soothing circles upon her back.

"Thank you, Ted." the werewolf muttered disapprovingly, but any further comment was drowned out by Dora's violent retching. Finally spent a few minutes later, the witch slumped backwards against Remus' side again. Despite her apparent exhaustion, she turned carefully to stare over towards the doorway, a vague smile tugging at her swollen lip.

"Here's our heroine!" she exclaimed weakly, and when Remus too offered Carrie a smile, the muggle felt rather embarrassed by their praise. After storming over to Carter Cottage she didn't feel as if she deserved it. She felt a sudden desire to tell them so, to admit to her mistake, and yet she forced herself to simply smile back at them. They didn't need to have their sparkling opinion of her tarnished quite yet, besides they had more important things on their minds.

"How're you feeling?" Carrie asked instead, taking a few steps forward. It was a rather silly question, if truth be told, but she didn't quite know what else to say.

"Been better." Dora admitted, eyes drifting closed again. "You, Carrie love?"

"I'm fine. Barely a bruise." Carrie assured her, and the Auror gave a surprisingly contented sigh and mumbled:

"That's our girl."

"She did wonderfully." Remus agreed, reaching to prise the bowl from his wife's frail grasp, and as he set it down upon the bedside table he offered Carrie another bright smile before the concern creeped back into his features, creasing his brow as he turned his attention fully back to Dora.

"Why don't you have a sleep, Sweetheart?" Carrie heard him suggest, easing the witch from his side and down onto the pillows behind them.

"Mm..." Dora murmured, apparently very near sleep already. As Remus set about adjusting the pillows under her head the witch let out a sigh. "'S so warm in here." she mumbled, reaching to tug feebly at the blankets and furs about her waist. Remus paused, about to pull them snugly up to her chin, to press a hand to her forehead.

"You're getting hot." he observed, and despite her sleepiness the witch gave an abrupt snigger and mumbled:

"'S what you said last ni..."

"_Try and sleep_." Remus interrupted meaningfully, lips pursed together against a snigger as he glanced over at his son apologetically.

Dora let out a soft snort of amusement, reaching to pull his hand from her forehead so that she could press it to her cheek instead.

"I'll be right here when you wake up." Remus assured her, only for her to abruptly push his hand away and insist:

"No, bugger off and have some lunch. Please."

"I'm really not hungry..."

"Then pretend."

"I'd rather not."

"Do it, Remus. Just do it, for Merlin's sake. I refuse to let this...to let this ruin things..."

Carrie had flinched at these words, for though the stubborn resolve to carry on as usual was so very like Dora, the weariness that had become etched into her voice was somewhat painful, so despondent that had Carrie not been stood staring at her, the muggle might not have believed it were Dora speaking at all.

Consequently she was quite glad to retreat with Teddy out into the sitting room, where they sat down at the kitchen table and ate a simple selection of bread, cheese and generous spread of chutney, a lunch hastily cobbled together by Neve in between her potion brewing. Whatever was bubbling away in the cauldron smelt vile enough that Carrie found herself with very little appetite anyway, but she tried her best to eat enough to look polite and drank a cup of tea for good measure. Despite his wife's insistence, Remus failed to appear at the table, which only made Carrie feel worse; firstly at the thought that Dora hadn't the energy to successfully plead with him, and secondly at the thought that Remus seemingly couldn't bear to leave the Auror on her own.

It reminded her once again of the previous year, of scars and damage never to heal, and Carrie struggled not to fall into a despairing mood herself. Once they had sat at the table long enough to be deemed polite, she and Teddy murmured thanks to their hostess, who didn't seem to be paying them all that much attention as she carefully measured out some sort of powder onto a pair of brass scales, and with that Carrie and Teddy both fetched a couple of cloaks and headed back outside.

They walked somewhat aimlessly through the village and back up the path that they had first used upon their arrival. Carrie had not ventured back this way since then, yet Teddy appeared to know where he was going. He led her by the hand off the path and through the trees and after a while, as they picked their way over the tree roots as the woods grew thicker and less tame, Carrie felt compelled to ask:

"D'you really think she'll be alright?"

"Who, Mum?" Teddy asked, slowing until they came to a stop, and as he turned to face her questioningly, Carrie gave a nod.

"Yes...she'll be alright, won't she? She looks so...so sickly and...and she's so...well..." the muggle trailed off into silence with a heavy sigh, and Teddy reached to slip his arms around her, expression soothingly calm.

"You know," he said, pausing to brush the hair from her eyes as she peered up at him anxiously, "there are a whole lot of magical plants that can kill a person stone dead as soon touch their lips. And then there're ones that can make you throw up all over the place, or even mess around with your mind, we used to learn about them in Herbology and Potions..."

"Is this supposed to be making me feel better?" Carrie inquired, face contorting indigently, and the wizard gave a light chuckle, leaning to press a kiss to the tip of her nose.

"I'm just saying," he murmured, smiling brightly, "on the grand scale of things, she's not that sick."

"She didn't seem herself at all to me. Joking one second...almost crying the next..."

"She's sick, Carrie. Sick and tired and weak. But she'll cope, she _is_ coping. She always does...she did last time..." At mention of last time, Teddy took a turn at trailing off with a sigh, and Carrie offered him a half-hearted smile.

"All this sighing!" she observed, "We could use some cheer, don't you think?"

"What do you have in mind?" Teddy wondered, and there was a long pause as Carrie tried to think of something innovative or witty to say. When nothing came to mind, she rose up onto the balls of her feet to kiss him instead. Apparently the young wizard thought this as good an idea as any, and it was not long before Carrie found herself being nudged gently backwards a few steps until her back met the rough bark of a tree trunk.

Kissing Teddy was indeed a fine distraction from the morning's events. And Carrie craved the distraction, craved his lips against her own, craved his caressing hands and his warmth in the afternoon breeze. She soon found herself admitting to herself that whether it was a distraction or not, she simply craved Teddy above all else in the world, and she found herself utterly fixated with his movements, his hand snagging at stray knots in her hair, fingers fiddling longingly with the buttons of her coat...

It was a dull yet thrilling ache within her that seemed to do something rather rash and wonderful to her brain, and Carrie wasn't sure she could stop it, even if she had wanted to.

It didn't quite stop her from jolting in surprise a few minutes later when she suddenly felt Teddy's hands slipping under the warm confides of her coat. His fingertips, tracing along the waistband of her jeans, faltered somewhat and he hastily drew back from kissing her to drop his forehead against her shoulder. There was a sizeable pause before he murmured:

"Are you okay?"

Carrie tried to ignore the warmth flushing in her cheeks to swallow the lump in her throat.

"Was um...was that me?" she wondered, voice not much more than a squeak.

"Was what you, Sweetheart?"

"Did I...did I do that? My coat, I mean..."

She felt warm air puncturing the thick shoulder of her coat as he stifled a huff of amusement into the material.

"Did you undo your coat buttons, you mean?" he attempted to clarify, sounding remarkably serious despite his apparent amusement.

"Mm..." Carrie managed, glancing down at the buttons in question and feeling quite puzzled.

"Yes, that was you." Teddy explained patiently, and for a moment the muggle's mind simply boggled.

"Oh..." she said at last, because she still couldn't quite fathom how she had managed such a thing without really noticing. It seemed wildly out of character, if truth be told...

"Are you okay?" Teddy asked again, and Carrie frowned in consideration.

Was it really out of character, the muggle wondered to herself, to edge closer towards intimacy? Or was it simply a part of her character she was only just discovering? Was it like Dora said, was she beginning to realise that she didn't need to act?

In truth, Carrie wasn't entirely sure. Nor was she sure whether this made her "okay" or not. So instead of answering she decided to simply continue to stumble onwards into the unknown, because regardless of whether or not it was okay the warm longing feeling was beginning to dull from her insides and she didn't want it to go just yet.

"You've cheated." she informed Teddy, his face still buried in her shoulder, and as she reached to slip her arms around his waist, fingers toying with the hem of his jumper, he asked:

"How?"

"You've not got any buttons, you're wearing a cloak." And with that, the muggle sniggered, only for the sound to die in her throat as he turned his head sideways to press his lips to the side of her neck. She slumped back against the tree trunk, his lips upon her skin sending a sudden wave of longing sweeping over her, and she felt such relief at having not lost her nerve that she clung to him, eyes drifting closed with a beaming smile. She felt as if she could do or say anything, that it was forever be fine, forever be perfect with Teddy. Her Teddy. Because she loved him and he loved her. There was no need for nerves, no need for shyness...

She found herself gloriously trapped, her arms kept at her sides by the coat he had pulled halfway down her arms, and the cool breeze upon her bare shoulder was not cool at all, but thrillingly chilled, his warm lips puncturing the ice as he worked his way steadily downwards, tugging her cardigan carefully off her shoulder as he went.

And Carrie simply stood, smiling into the blacks of her eyelids, held prisoner by her adjusted clothing and entirely glad to be so, revelling in his slow, careful progression down from her shoulder, his lips tracing the line of her collarbone. When she felt his hand leave her arm to pull hesitantly at the neckline of her t-shirt she felt herself suck in a deep, gasped breath, her hand groping blindly sideways until she found his other hand upon her waist. For a moment she concentrated on lacing her fingers through his, something normal, something they did all the time without much thought, trying to ignore the sudden constricting in her chest. And yet she didn't want to ignore it, didn't want to ignore him as, after a long enough pause to establish that she wasn't about to panic, he reached to tug at the neckline of her top, fingers snagging carefully upon her bra underneath, she felt the sudden sting of cool air against newly exposed skin only fleetingly before his head dipped and warm lips upon previously unchartered territory sent shockwaves of warmth through her body. For the life of her, Carrie could not recall or even imagine anything more intoxicating or wonderful than the feeling she had at that moment, and she gasped another lungful of air into her lungs in a failed attempt to suppress a shudder. She felt Teddy pull his hand free from her suddenly vice-like grasp and as the back of her t-shirt tugged against the back of her neck as he pulled at it even more, Carrie allowed her eyes to flutter open, too curious and heady to resist. The sight of his hands carefully caressing her exposed breast, his eyes just as shut as hers had been a moment earlier as he pressed kiss after kiss to her skin seemed to become burned in glorious detail in her memory from that moment on. Carrie was certain that she would never forget it, nor the fierce, longing ache in the pit of her stomach. A moment later he had paused in his kissing to simply press his smiling lips against her skin, as if to revel in this sudden new development between the two of them,

"I love you." Carrie told him, because the headiness was beginning to wear off and she felt compelled to do or say something, and he hastily straightened up and set about pulling her clothes back into place.

"And I love you." he told her once he had finished buttoning up her coat, and they had both smiled in a rather awed fashion at one another before setting off on their walk again, the world slowly returning to them as a bird perched in the tree above them let out a soft tweet.

Their little interlude against the tree in the woods was pretty much all that Carrie could think of that night when she went to bed, she lay under the blankets and furs, recalling how serene and wonderful it had all been and how utterly glorious it had felt and how when she had finally dared open her eyes Teddy had seemed so utterly lost in what he was doing that at that moment in time she hadn't felt even a little embarrassed at just how exposed she had been. Indeed, Carrie had felt stunning. Wondrously beautiful.

She'd dream of it, she was sure, the whole night long! There would be no stopping it, she'd dream of that moment over and over again and wake feeling heady and fuzzy and warm inside...

And yet, when Carrie Winters did finally fall asleep some hour or so after climbing into bed, she did not dream of Teddy Lupin's kisses and caresses, nor of his love for her at all.

Instead she dreamt of mysterious and handsome young man with beautifully haunting eyes and dark, attractively ruffled hair who smiled warmly down at her from his perch upon a low hanging branch of a tall tree, his feet just out of her grasp when she attempted to reach him.

Yes, that night Carrie Winters did not dream of her boyfriend at all.

Because she was far too busy dreaming of Kit Carter.


	11. A Disturbed Night

_Note: So...much...work..._

_That's right everybody, I'm drowning under the weight of University assignments and should under no circumstances be writing anything at all, let alone a chapter of decent length like this one! Still, I've done it anyway. I'm sure I'm going to suffer the consequences any day now..._

_This chapter is dedicated to **Bekah28**, for being a new face (I think)! Welcome to the weird and wonderful world that is my imagination, thanks for reading and it was great to hear from you!_

_I'm not sure how clear I've made the end of this chapter...I suppose only reviews will tell! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and thank you all for the kind reviews! You really do make me smile, even with my ridiculous workload! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**11: A Disturbed Night**

She awoke after that first night feeling bemused more than anything else.

When she awoke after the second night having dreamt the same dreams of the wrong boy all over again, she had felt ashamed.

And when she awoke at 2am during the third night, having finally caught hold of the hem of Kit Carter's corded trousers, coaxing him at long last down from his tree only to have him reach to pick a stray twig from her hair that had made her shiver, Carrie Winters felt downright distressed.

And so it was that at two minutes past 2am, Remus and Dora Lupin found themselves roused from sleep by a soft but insistent tapping upon their bedroom door.

"Sod off..." the witch had mumbled resentfully into the collar of her husband's pyjama shirt, and with that she'd rolled over and buried her head under her pillow.

For a long moment after that husband and wife simply lay stock still, listening to the repetitive noise puncturing the peaceful atmosphere of their room, until Remus paused in his frowning into the backs of his eyelids to murmur:

"It's your turn."

Despite apparently still being half asleep, his wife rolled over again so that she could scowl at him through the darkness.

"How in Merlin's name did you figure that out?" she hissed, clutching at the blankets around her as if he might attempt to wrench them out of her grasp. "We don't even take turns, there's no such thing as taking turns...I'm supposed to be resting!"

"You're awake now though, you might as well get up. And anyway, you ate half your bodyweight in bread and cheese earlier, I'm pretty sure that deems you to be pretty fit and healthy..."

"Get up, Remus."

"It's definitely your turn."

"Maybe if we were doing turns, but we're not! Now get up!"

"What's it worth?"

"You get to be the one to open the door and hex Ted into the middle of next week for waking the pair of us up a stupid o'clock in the morning..." Dora trailed off into silence as the knocking suddenly grew louder and a distressed voice from outside squeaked:

"Dora...?"

"Doesn't sound a whole lot like Ted to me." Remus observed, stifling a yawn into his sleeve, and after a brief pause to savour the warmth and comfort of the blankets around him he at long last consented to climbing out of bed. He padded sleepily over to the door and pulled it open a little, and there he found a dressing gown-clad Carrie Winters, whose cheeks looked suspiciously damp and whose eyes were tellingly watery.

"I want to talk to Dora." the muggle informed the werewolf as she hugged her arms tightly around herself, and he had barely opened his mouth to reply when a voice from back inside the room called:

"I'm asleep!"

Remus reached to rub a weary hand across his eyes as Carrie fixed him with a pleading look.

"Please?" she whispered, rocking back on her heels anxiously. "It's...it's important."

"It's two o'clock in the morning, Carrie." he pointed out, leaning heavily against the doorframe with a sigh. It was a sigh of resignation more than anything else, because he'd known from the moment he'd first set eyes upon her that he was not about to deny her anything. She simply looked far too upset.

"It's very important." Carrie insisted with a sniff. "I...I know she's not well but...but...well..."

"Go and steal her blankets." Remus suggested, gesturing vaguely over her shoulder, and with that he stepped out into the sitting room and made a beeline for the kettle.

Carrie shuffled over the threshold, squinting through the darkness as she watched Dora sit up in bed and set about rearranging the blankets around her. Now that she had managed to disturb the witch, Carrie found that she felt rather guilty. It had not taken long for Dora to get over her sudden sickness, for the first few hours after being tucked up in bed that first day she had been violently sick over and over until Carrie was certain it was physically impossible for her to vomit anymore. Her temperature had soared to a raging fever during the first night that had kept her tossing and turning for hours. But since then she appeared to have grown better by the hour and had managed a few small and suitably bland meals as well as the odd leisurely trip outside for fresh air.

But she was still pale, queasy and all together rather feeble. Certainly in no perfect state to have her night's sleep interrupted.

Despite all of this, and despite her earlier resistance, Dora reached to pat the empty side of the bed beside her and murmured:

"C'mon then, before the bed gets cold."

As she shuffled across the room and slipped carefully under the blankets, Carrie supposed she ought feel more than a little childish at the scene, and yet she found that she would rather feel childish than as utterly awful and dirty as she had been lying in her own bed.

"This is awesome." Dora murmured to the muggle's bemusement. "If you were Teddy right now he'd have wanted his dad, and I'd be the one stuck out there making hot chocolate or whatever it is Remus is up to." She offered the muggle a bright smile as if she were in someway grateful for her gender, and when Carrie simply stared at her she rolled her eyes a little and wondered: "So...2am...must be something pretty damn important, hm?"

Carrie pulled the blankets up and over her knees so that she could hug them to her chest, gazing off at the wall opposite them.

"I...I just...I want to ask you something..."

"I'm all ears, love."

For a long moment, Carrie chewed her lip in consideration, attempting to order her muddled thoughts. At long last she drew in a deep breath and wondered:

"Have you ever had a dream...like a dream that when you woke up you wished you never had it?"

There was long and distinctly unimpressed silence, before Dora recalled:

"Mm...plenty of times, Carrie. It's called a _nightmare_." she turned to fix the side of the muggle's head with a stare. "Seriously, Carrie...two o'clock in the morning...!"

"No, no!" Carrie cried, fidgeting awkwardly. "Not a nightmare, that's not what I meant! I meant...like...like did you ever have the most wonderful, fantastic dream but...but when you woke you realised it was...it wasn't wonderful at all, it was...it was horrible and...and dreadful and...and it was the worst thing you ever imagined...?"

Dora settled herself back against her pillows, yawning widely.

"Why would you suddenly think that?" she asked, and Carrie's grip upon her knees tightened.

"I...I don't know..."

"Of course you do. You know why you think things, Carrie, if you didn't you wouldn't think them in the first place."

Carrie leant to bury her face in her arms. She simply couldn't explain herself, she didn't know how. She didn't want to know how, either, didn't want to admit to her dreams of the wrong boy, the wrong feelings, of all those things that were wrong but seemed to feel so utterly right when she was sleeping...

After a while she felt movement beside her and Dora carefully prised her head back from her arms and set about pushing her legs down under the blankets.

"Alright then," the Auror murmured sleepily, sliding down until she was lying upon her side, arms reaching to pull the teenager down after her. "Let's start from the beginning, shall we? This dream of yours, when did you start having it?"

"Just...just a few nights ago..." Carrie mumbled as she settled her head down upon Remus' pillow. For a moment she felt a sense of calm begin to descend upon her, peering at Dora through the darkness, the warmth of the blankets making her feel safe and secure, a cosy little bubble full of Dora's calm, clarity and common sense. The bubble burst abruptly with Dora inquired:

"And what happens then, in this dream?" When Carrie simply shook her head vigorously, the Auror was forced to admit: "You're not giving me a whole lot to work with here, you know."

"I can't tell you." Carrie whispered, turning her head until it was buried in the pillow, her stomach twisting into knots.

"You can tell me absolutely anything you like, love. Like I've always said."

"Yes but...but I...but I'd not like to tell you this. I'd not like it at all..."

"Why not?"

"Because...!"

"Because what? Because you reckon I'll think badly of you? Or maybe because you think I'd be angry or upset with you?"

"No..."

"No?"

"I mean...maybe."

"You mean yes."

"Y...yes."

"Mm. That's a lie though, isn't it?"

"No..."

"Of course it is. If you really thought you couldn't possibly tell me you wouldn't have bothered to wake me up."

The Auror's unshakable logic was somewhat alarming. Carrie didn't know what to say, so she chose to remain mute.

"Let's try again, shall we?" Dora suggested patiently, pausing to yawn widely. "What's so dreadful about this dream? How does it make you feel, when you wake up?"

"I...well...I don't know..."

"Yes you do. So, how does it make you feel?"

Carrie fidgeted, face contorting in embarrassment.

"D...dirty..." she mumbled into the pillow. "Ashamed..."

There was a brief pause before the witch beside her let out a heavy sigh and groaned:

"Oh bloody hell! We're talking about boys again, aren't we?"

Carrie instantly flinched as she felt movement beside her, and she drew her face away from the pillow to see Dora sit up in bed, reaching to rake a hand through her messy mousy brown hair.

"I...how do you know..."

"We're talking about one of those awkward dreams where you're...with somebody you should be or something like that..."

"How..."

"Because, Carrie love, we've all had them..."

"We...we have?"

"Yes, plenty of times...and Merlin help me, you've woken me up in the middle of the night to make me talk about how once I dreamt I walked into my office at work and found Whatshisface lying naked on the rug before the fireplace..."

"You what?" Carrie squeaked in horror, colour flooding her face. "Who was lying there naked?"

"It was...I don't know...not Robert, he didn't have any tattoos...Daniel. It was Daniel..."

"Daniel? As in...as in Daniel...?"

"Anyway, that doesn't really matter. None of it does, Carrie, what matters is it was just a stupid dream! It was just my imagination running away with itself, and who honestly gives a toss what ridiculous scenarios I can dream up in my head?"

"Well...well Remus might..."

"Only if I choose to take any notice of them! I've yet to summon Daniel into my office to demand he close the door behind him and strip for me! Should I ever decide that's a cool idea I'm sure Remus might be a tad unimpressed! But until then, Carrie, it's just some random dream that I had one night. What does it mean? That I might think Daniel's a bit of alright? Sure, but that's not a bloody crime now, is it?"

"Isn't it?" Carrie wondered a little doubtfully, and the witch flopped back down against her pillows with a groan.

"No, it isn't!" she exclaimed, promptly biting her tongue in an attempt to quieten down. She drew in a deep, calming breath before continuing:"There are a whole load of different people in the world, Carrie. Some of them are average looking, some of them fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down and others are flawless god-like creatures that blind us with their good looks. And that doesn't change when you're with somebody. People don't just suddenly become ugly or unattractive! We're allowed to think that bloke there has nice looking eyes or that one over there looks rather good in that pair of jeans! I'm allowed to nod at that guy sitting across the room to me and joke to you _if I were ten years younger_...!"

"But...but isn't that a bit...well..."

"Disloyal? Unfaithful? Insensitive?"

"Well...yes!"

"It doesn't come close, love. Not if you truly love somebody."

"But...but surely if you love them you shouldn't...shouldn't think about...other people like that."

"_Like that_, Carrie, is only skin deep. What's a fleeting attraction to somebody's appearance that your mind conjured up when you were sleeping compared to the love you have for somebody when you're wide awake? What does it matter that Daniel's good looking? Remus loves me. He makes me feel special without even trying, and then most of the time he tries anyway, just in case! He always knows the right thing to say to make me smile or feel better if I'm having a tough day..._and_ in a split second he can shoot a wad of chewing gum straight up someone's nose...how bloody awesome is that?"

Carrie rolled over onto her back so that she could frown up through the darkness at the ceiling.

Put like that, she realised, it all seemed so obvious!

But then again, everything seemed obvious when Dora pointed it out.

Dora sighed heavily again, reaching to rub wearily at her eyes.

"Two in the bloody morning!" she muttered, shaking her head, and Carrie felt compelled to mumble:

"Sorry."

"You're quite something, you are!"

"I know...I'm sorry."

"D'you know what you are? You're a bloody nightmare..."

"Sorry..."

"Next time you want to wake me up in the middle of the night, make sure the house is on fire or something reasonable like that first!"

"Okay..."

"In fact no, scrap that! If you wake up and spot _Voldemort reincarnate_ peering through your bedroom window you can come and wake _Remus_ up! Anything less than that and I'm going to hex you into the middle of next week, alright?"

"Alright then..."

"Good. Now bugger off and go to sleep!"

As she slipped carefully back out from underneath the covers, cheeks blooming with a flood of embarrassed colour, Carrie felt a hand reach to grip hold of her by the elbow. She turned back to find the Auror peering at her through the darkness, a small smile playing on her lips, the bottom of which still looked a little swollen.

"I'm kidding, Sweetheart." the witch whispered, raising an eyebrow, and when Carrie managed a small smile in return Dora's grip upon the muggle's elbow tightened, expression suddenly deadly serious as she pledge: "Anything, anytime. You know that, don't you?"

Carrie gave a small nod, still feeling too abashed to say anything, and she promptly found herself being pulled back down towards the mattress as the witch reached to give her a rather clumsy one-armed hug.

"Thanks Dora." she managed a long moment later, just as the bedroom door was pushed open and Remus reappeared, a steaming mug held in one hand.

"Are we all sunshine and daisies, then?" the werewolf asked as Carrie rose to her feet and offered him a bright smile when he pressed the mug of cocoa into her hands.

"Of course we are!" Dora told him, taking the opportunity to stretch herself out under the blankets, stealing a good half of his side of the bed.

"Brilliant..." Remus said, yawning widely, and Carrie hastily shuffled back towards the door.

"Goodnight, then." she murmured, glancing back over her shoulder as Remus sat down upon the edge of the bed. "Thanks for the cocoa, Remus."

"You're welcome." the werewolf told her, sounding remarkably cheery for such a late hour, and Dora called:

"Sweet dreams, Carrie love."

"Sweet dreams." Carrie mumbled back, and with that she stepped out into the sitting room and pulled the door shut behind her. For a moment she stood, clutching the steaming mug and staring at the door, listening to the muffled sounds of movement within...

They were talking. She could just about make our the sound of their hushed voices, and Carrie felt a sudden rush of apprehension.

What if Dora relayed their whole conversation to Remus? Merlin, Carrie couldn't stand the thought...

Except Dora wouldn't. She'd keep it all to herself, it was a girl thing, it was just between the two of them...

But...what if...

Carrie hastily crept forwards and squatted down so that she could squint through the keyhole. In the dim moonlight that had crept through the bedroom curtains she could just about make them out, both lying upon their backs, staring up at the ceiling. After a moment, Remus looked sideways at the witch beside him and murmured:

"What're you thinking?"

Dora let out a loud sigh that made the air catch in the back of Carrie's throat in anticipation.

And then, to the muggle's shock, the witch informed her husband:

"I was just imagining Daniel naked." There was a slightly stunned pause as she waited for this information to sink in, before she rolled onto her side to fix Remus with a bright smile so that she could ask him: "Can we have sex?" And with that, she promptly dissolved into laughter.

Remus turned his back on her, pulling the blankets up to his chin.

"Not for at least a month now you've put it like that." he murmured. "Now go back to sleep."

Dora shifted across the bed until she could bury her face in the back of his pyjamas, reaching to slide her arms around him as she attempted to smother her amusement. As Remus' eyes drifted closed she shifted closer against him, raising her head until her lips were pressed to his ear.

"I don't think you can last that long." she teased, but he merely reached to cradle her arms against his chest and insisted:

"Go to sleep."

They were silent for a long minute, and Carrie was just about to creep back to her room, satisfied that Dora wasn't about to say anything, when quite suddenly the Auror mumbled:

"Remus?"

"Mm?" came the reluctant response, and a frown creased the werewolf's brow as the witch fidgeted against his back.

"You know," Dora began slowly, "back when Ted and Carrie were younger, when we had that bet going about when they'd get together?"

"Mm?"

"Well...did you ever think it wouldn't happen? Did you ever think they wouldn't get together?"

Remus let out a resigned sigh, reluctantly dragging his eyes open.

"Not really, no." he admitted. "I can't say I ever imagined them not being together." When Dora did not reply straight away he closed his eyes again, only for the witch to tell him:

"Sometimes I wonder...what it would be like...you know, if they were still just friends."

"Mm..."

"Sometimes I reckon...well sometimes I reckon it might've been...well...better."

"Better?"

"Yeah..." There was an expectant pause before Remus consented to asking:

"Why would it have been better?"

"Well," Dora explained, frowning a little at the thought. "It would've been simpler. Being friends was more simple."

"So?"

"So...they were less likely to screw up being friends."

"You think they'll screw up being more than friends?"  
>"No...of course not, it's just..."<p>

"It's just...?"

"It just they...well they might. I mean they're very young."

"Yes, they are."

"And they take it all rather seriously, don't they?"

"Mm...they do."

"I mean...it could all go horribly wrong, couldn't it?"

"It could, I suppose."

"And that would be bloody awful, wouldn't it? I mean...what would happen if...if for example we get up in the morning and...and Ted comes in for breakfast and announces they've broken up? What would you do?"

"Dora..."

"Seriously! What would happen? We'd take Carrie back to her aunt's house and then...and then what? We'd never see her again?"

"Well...that would depend, I suppose, on how they were when they broke up...why are we having a discussion about this?"

There was a very long silence. Carrie reached to clamp a hand down over her mouth, her heart beginning to race in her chest and she flinched when Remus abruptly shifted round to face his wife, wondering:

"Have they had a row, then?"

"No, nothing like that." Dora assured him, taking the opportunity to commandeer his chest as a substitute pillow. "I was just thinking, that's all. If they were to split up...well Carrie's been around us for so long now, she's at our house more often than I am! It would be so strange, if she wasn't there anymore...it's almost like...like she'd have dumped all three of us..."

"Dora?"

"Hm?"

"It's almost three o'clock in the morning, I'm tired and this is an entirely pointless conversation that serves only to agitate the pair of us. Just go to sleep."

For a moment, Dora simply frowned as if she wanted to protest, but eventually she sighed heavily and mumbled:

"Right...g'night then..."

"Thank Merlin, it's a miracle!" Remus breathed, dropping a kiss atop her head, and with that he wrapped his arms around her middle and murmured: "Goodnight, Sweetheart."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

Satisfied that her secret was entirely safe, Carrie crept back to her bedroom, an awful sinking feeling in her stomach at Dora's horrible what ifs. As she shrugged off her dressing gown and slid back under her blankets, the muggle gave herself a stubborn little shake.

It didn't even matter, she told herself firmly. Because Dora was entirely wrong. It wouldn't be better if she and Teddy were just friends, of course it wouldn't, that was a stupid notion! And as for them ever breaking up...

She really ought not have woken Dora up, obviously she was over-tired and not making a whole lot of sense.

Except of course for everything she had told Carrie just moments beforehand.

Carrie wriggled further down under the blankets and curled herself up, hugging her knees tightly.

It was probably best to forget what she had overheard anyway, she thought as she closed her eyes in determination to do just that. _This is why you aren't supposed to eavesdrop_, she reminded herself sternly._ You hardly ever like what you hear._

And besides, Dora hadn't said Carrie's relationship with Teddy _would_ fail, she had simply said that it _could do_. And it could, of course it could, anything could happen in life, Carrie knew this far too well after being around the Lupins for so many years. You might move into a house next to a slightly odd family, and then all of a sudden you might discover they are in actual fact magical and that the whole world is actually partially populated by real witches and wizards. You might go to summer school with your best friend one day and promptly have the life sucked out of you by a psychotic witch from the Middle Ages through a magic mirror. You could even be sat having a chat in your friend's bedroom one moment and be in an entirely different time in the next. One minute you might be living happily with your parents and the next moment they might have had their memories wiped and you might end up living with your workaholic spinster aunt and her unnaturally bad-tempered and ugly cat.

But just because anything could happen, that didn't mean that it necessarily would.

In fact it _definitely_ wouldn't, in this case. She and Teddy would be together forever, she was absolutely sure of it. And that, Carrie thought determinedly, giving an almost indigent fidget, was that.

She was just dropping off to sleep some minutes later when the peaceful silence of the room was disturbed by the sound of movement by the window, the shifting of material, and at the disturbance Carrie gave a heavy sigh.

Surely, she thought as she dragged her eyes reluctantly open, she hadn't forgotten to close the window! It was freezing outside, the muggle recalled as she rolled over to look towards the source of the noise she would surely have noticed more of a draft...

The small shriek of alarm left Carrie's lips so abruptly that the hand she hastily clamped down across her mouth seemed altogether futile.

From where he stood, face pressed up against the glass, one hand groping around through the open window to push aside a net curtain, Kit Carter very nearly jumped out of his skin, his forehead colliding with the glass with an audible crack. Carrie drew in a deep breath to shout something suitably horrified and furious at him, only for the animagus to hurriedly press a finger to his lips, shaking his head vigorously...

And for some reason, though she was utterly mortified at the mere sight of him, though she could barely imagine anything more distressing or disturbing than spotting somebody peering through her bedroom window, watching her sleep, Carrie couldn't seem to say a word, let alone shout. The words simply wouldn't form upon her tongue, she couldn't quite think of what to say, what to do, and as she sat bolt upright in bed, staring at her unexpected visitor in silence she heard the sound of muffled rushed movement. The door to the bedroom was flung abruptly open, wandlight flooded the room and for the briefest moment Carrie was blinded by it. She flinched, eyes screwed shut, and when she opened them half a second later she found that Kit Carter was nowhere to be seen.

"What's wrong?" Teddy asked breathlessly as both he and Samuel bolted into the room, wands held aloft, and as she turned to face them, feeling rather dazed, Carrie was vaguely aware of yet more movement as Edwin, Neve, Remus and Dora gradually appeared, clustered around the doorway and peering into the room curiously.

"I...I..." Carrie sucked in a deep, determined breath as Teddy dropped down onto the edge of the bed, reaching to slide a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Nightmare was it, Carrie love?" Dora called as she took a small step forward to lean against the doorframe, one eyebrow raised, and Edwin and Neve exchanged a weary glance.

And for no reason that she could quite put her finger on, Carrie found herself dropping her gaze to her lap and mumbling:

"Yes, yes it...it was just a nightmare. That was all it was."

"Sweet Merlin...!" Samuel breathed, letting out a large, exasperated breath that he had apparently been holding, and his parents both shot him a disapproving look.

"S...sorry..." Carrie mumbled, daring a glance up towards the adults in the doorway. "I...I'm sorry I disturbed you...silly..."

"Happens to the best of us." Remus assured her, a meaningful hand coming to rest upon his wife's shoulder, and the Auror gave a rather solemn nod.

"Never mind, eh?" Edwin agreed, sounding alarmingly cheerful at this speedy conclusion. "Right then love, shall we?" And with that, both he and Neve murmured their goodnights and disappeared back towards their bedroom. As Samuel followed his parents' lead, Dora took a step further into the room so that he could pass her through the doorway. Carrie watched, as Teddy pulled her sideways into a firm one armed hug, as Dora reached to rake a hand through her disarrayed hair, frowning deeply.

"Merlin, my head..." the muggle heard the witch complain to her husband as Remus stepped up behind her, and Carrie felt oddly calmed as she watched the werewolf reached to sweep the hair back from the witch's face.

"You got up too quickly."

"Mm..."

"Neve said the potions wouldn't wear off immediately..."

"Mm...bloody hell..."

Remus carefully turned the frowned Auror round to face him, leaning to press a kiss to her crinkled brow as he murmured:

"_Bed_."

"Yes..." Dora mumbled in agreement, and as she turned to shuffle back towards the door, Remus' gaze came to rest upon the two teenagers upon the bed.

"_And you_." he told his son meaningfully.

Teddy offered his father a raised eyebrow.

"Two minutes." the werewolf insisted.

The youngest Lupin gave a soft snort.

"Bit paranoid, Dad..."

"One minute fifty five seconds."

"Alright, alright!" As his parents disappeared out the door, Teddy leant to smother a snigger into Carrie's hair, but the muggle barely noticed.

She was much too busy trying to convince herself that he had lied with good reason.

Obviously, she told herself as she offered Teddy a vague smile and allowed him to ease her down onto the bed, it had been because of Dora. Because she was, despite first appearances, still ill. Because there had been enough drama. Because Kit Carter was just a strange boy with creepy habits and nothing more. Because it wasn't worth making anybody worried. Because she didn't want to ruin this holiday anymore than she already had.

Yes, Carrie told herself as Teddy tucked the blankets firmly around her and leant to press a lingering kiss to her lips, she had lied for good reason, several of them in fact.

Because that seemed far more plausible than her original theory: that she had lied for absolutely no conscious reason at all.


	12. A Well Rehearsed Game

_Note: So I've finally written a full plan for this 'fic! When I have some more spare time I ought be able to update nice and quickly. For anybody who is interested, I have 2 more Meet the... 'fics planned after this one, though only one of them will star Carrie as the protagonist! So, I hope you'll enjoy those once I get around to writing them (or finishing them because I've technically started one of them!) I estimate about 4 or 5 more chapters here...maybe. I'm not sure..._

_I'm sorry this chapter is so short. I'm still very busy, even though I've already handed some work in already there is still about 4 more lots due in this/next week! Thanks to my reviewers, you make this ridiculous work load bearable, as well as make me feel less regretful about shunning work in favour of writing (it's a awful habit that I really should shake off if I'm going to get a half decent degree!)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

**12: A Well Rehearsed Game**

_The cool breeze left hundreds of tiny goosebumps upon her skin as she crept forward through the trees, her breath catching in her throat at every crunching leaf, every snapping twig, and she crept closer and closer, waiting for her movements to finally bring him to a halt, for him to realise that she was there._

_Perhaps, she thought as she paused to press herself against a tree trunk, peering round it towards him and biting her lip in consideration, he had already heard her. Perhaps he knew she was there and this was just some game they were playing, a careful game of cat and mouse._

_And she wanted desperately to be caught. _

_Gaze fixed upon his retreating back, she slipped out from behind the tree, silent as as ghost, only for him to suddenly spin round to face her. She gave a small jump backwards, back colliding with the tree trunk, and she knew then that he had known all along that she had been following him. _

_He regarded her for a long moment with his dark, sorrowful eyes and she found herself silently willing him to move closer so that she could stare into their depths and lose herself entirely, bask in the pools of emotion until the rest of the world was far away and insignificant. _

_And it was insignificant, it all was. Everything. Every tiny little thing except those eyes and that smile, the one slowly gracing his lips as he gazed at her, the smile that made her knees weak at the sight of it. _

_It was devastatingly beautiful. He was devastatingly beautiful and sad and gentle and just simply magical..._

_There never had been, nor ever could be, anybody quite as wondrously magical as him. Compared to him the rest of the world was dull, shallow..._

"_You've been following me." he observed softly as he took a few steps forward towards her, and though she dared not move herself she recalled:_

"_You've been staring through my window." _

_Though his expression grew abashed, his cheeks flushing with colour, there was something gloriously unashamed about the way he wandered closer until their shoes were very nearly touching, and he said:_

"_I suppose that makes us equal, then." _

_She could feel his warm breath upon her face, it sent a shiver down her spine and she felt a little daft when his smile broadened at the sight of her..._

_And then she felt his hands reaching to rest against her hips and she gasped in a breath as he leant towards her, her head swam as his lips brushed against her jaw..._

_Bang!_

As she was jolted awake, Carrie gasped in such a startled breath that the air caught in her throat and she promptly let out a spluttering cough, eyes screwed shut for a moment before she dared open them again, just in time for a flurry of coloured material to be deposited upon the bed, making her jump again.

"What...what's going on?" the muggle asked a little groggily, attempting to blink the sleep from her eyes to focus upon the figure stood at the foot of her bed.

"Dresses, Carrie love!" Dora announced in a bewilderingly wide-awake fashion, and as she gazed at the witch in confusion, Carrie wondered how late in the morning it was.

"What?" she mumbled, still entirely clueless, and the Auror elaborated:

"Party dresses, Carrie. There's going to be a party this afternoon, the whole village is invited."

"What?" Carrie asked again, eying the assortment of clothes before her with a deep frown, and the witch sighed heavily and muttered:

"Merlin, give me strength...!" Dropping down onto the edge of the bed, she guessed: "I don't suppose you've brought a fancy dress with you at all, have you?"

"Um...no..."

"Of course you didn't. So, Neve says you can pick one of these, they used to belong to Sable, and she'll spend the morning altering it if it's much too big, alright?"

"Oh..." Carrie shifted until she was sitting a little more upright. "Alright, then..."

"Are you alright, love?" Dora asked as she set about rearranging the assortment of clothing on offer so that the muggle could get a better look at them. "You look all...flustered..."  
>"I'm fine." Carrie lied, reaching to swipe a hand across her lips and giving herself a little shake.<p>

That was probably the right answer, she told herself, and anyway, she was fine, only...

What a dream. What a wonderfully dreadful and perfectly wrong dream...

"You're smiling." Dora observed, one eyebrow creeping up towards her fringe, which was today a very pale shade of blonde.

"No I'm not." Carrie muttered, wiping the smile in question from her face almost as soon as the witch had noticed it.

Dora gave a soft snort of amusement.

"I won't even ask." she murmured as she reached to pick up the last dress, a pale garment with far too many frills, and Carrie asked:

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It probably means I'm going to change the subject. What d'you think of this one?"

"It's hideous..."

"Good. What about this one?"

"What did you mean you're not going to ask? Aren't I allowed to smile..."

"Do you want me to ask?"

"Well...no..."

"Well then, do you like this one or not? We don't have all day if Neve's going to alter it in time."

Bemused and a little unnerved at Dora's complete disinterest, Carrie picked out a white dress with lacy sleeves. She had tried it on and concluded that the hem was several inches too long, and with that Dora disappeared back out into the sitting room, pausing in the doorway to inform the muggle:

"You do know it's almost noon, don't you?"

Carrie had scrambled to find some clothes and hurriedly got dressed. When she wandered out into the main room she discovered Neve sat in a chair by the fire, apparently already hard at work with needle, wand and thread. Dora was stood at the window, nibbling rather half-heartedly at a sparingly buttered piece of toast.

"He shouldn't be helping," Neve was saying as Carrie crossed the room to stand at Dora's side and peer out of the window too. "Neither of them should, you're guests..."

"Don't be silly, Neve." Dora told the other witch as Carrie felt a sudden swell of excitement at the sight of the assortment of chairs and tables set outside, all dwarfed by an enormous awning that a large crowd of villagers appeared to be midway through levitating into place. "Remus and Ted like helping..." she trailed off, leaning forward until her breath could steam up the window pane, a sudden glint in her eye as she observed: "Well, he's just asking for it, he is..."

"Who's asking for what?" Carrie asked, peering curiously outside, and she had just spotted Remus stood amongst the crowd, gaze skyward in concentration, wand pointed at the awning, when Dora turned and bolted outside, without even bothering to snatch up a cloak as she went. The muggle watched in vague bemusement as the witch half-sprinted down the garden path, before making a beeline for the unsuspecting werewolf...

Carrie's jaw dropped in surprise as the Auror came to a skidding halt at her husband's back, and promptly threw her arms around his middle, fingers digging into his stomach with a triumphant shout of:

"GOTCHA!"

Remus gave such a jump that Carrie was pretty sure that his feet left the ground, and up in the sky the awning gave an abrupt jolt of it's own, veering sideways into a nearby tree, before falling towards the ground. Shrieks of surprise pierced the air as the heavy material promptly landed atop a group of unsuspecting witches who had been busy arranging plastic cups upon one of the countless tables. As she dissolved into giggles, Carrie dashed outside after the witch to survey the damage, and arrived amidst the chaos just in time to hear Dora exclaim:

"Oh Merlin, Remus! Look what you've done!"

As a few of the villagers hurried over to help untangle the witches from the awning, the rest of the gathered crowd positively roared with laughter.

"Sorry about that!" Remus told them, turning to poke a finger at Dora's ribs in retaliation, but she dodged out the the way and agreed:

"Yeah, sorry about that everybody! I hadn't realised my husband was such a wimp!" the metamorphmagus grinned, reaching to grab hold of the werewolf by the hands when he made to grab her again.

"Hex her!" Teddy called from where he stood some meters away, and beside him Samuel agreed:

"Yeah! Teach her a lesson!"

"I don't think so." Carrie heard Dora murmur, eyes twinkling as she pulled her husband a few more steps away from the crowd. "Snog her senseless more like, when you see what I've got in my pocket!"

"Oh?" Remus murmured back, reaching to slide his arms around her waist, eyebrow raised as he reached to grope searching in the pocket of her robes. "Why, what's in your pocket?"

"The other one."

"Ah..."

"No, the other other one."

Carrie watched curiously as the wizard gave up his searching of the pockets at her sides and instead let go of her in order to slip a hand inside her robes, extracting a neatly folded piece of parchment from a hidden pocket at her breast, ignoring exaggerated smirk she offered him as she hissed:

"Remus, really! At least wait until we get inside...!"

"Ha." he muttered, offering her the briefest of glances before he reached to unfold the paper, expression suddenly growing deadly serious. As the villagers returned to the task at hand, the werewolf's eyes darted from side to side as he read the letter in his hands, before his arm dropped to his side and he stared at his wife, who was grinning so widely that Carrie thought she might split her face.

"Is that good, or is that _good_?" Dora breathed at last, rising up onto her toes rather excitedly, only for Remus to turn abruptly away from her.  
>"I think I need to read it again." he said, though a smile was already tugging at his lips, and as he did precisely that the witch stood behind him, fidgeting rather impatiently. After a moment he spun back round to face her so suddenly that it made Carrie jump, and with that he threw his arms around his wife, lifting her right off her feet with an exclamation of:<p>

"You diamond, you did it!"

"_We_ did it!" Dora corrected sharply, arms acquiring a strangle-like grip around his neck. "I knew we'd do it this year, I told you we would, didn't I?"

"Yes you did..."

"You didn't believe me!"

"I didn't think we'd do it by the summer, no. By Christmas, maybe...ha!"

"No more bloody goblins!"

"No, no more goblins..."

"Do you have any idea how smug I'm going to look next time I walk into Gringott's? Knowing I don't owe them a single knut!"

"If we keep this up with the rest your retirement's going to be a breeze...Merlin...I've...I've owed them for _twenty seven _years...!"

"Well not anymore you don't! Where're my kisses, then?"

As she observed their enthusiastic triumph, Carrie couldn't help but feel that today was going to be a very good one indeed.

She certainly wasn't wrong.

For one thing, Neve did a rather brilliant job on the dress, which Teddy proclaimed to look downright stunning on her in the bright afternoon sunshine. The party had been in full swing by the time Carrie had gotten dressed, dusted some colour into her cheeks and given her hair a good brush. There had been a faintly ridiculous amount of food set upon the tables under the awning, the smell of which had made the muggle's mouth water almost as soon as she had stepped outside, and a steady flow of drink to match. The rest of the village clearing had been cleared of carts, sacks and other everyday things to make room for a large makeshift dance floor, and music blared loudly out of a large set of oddly modern looking speakers set down on a crateful of animal feed. For some reason, Carrie had been expecting some old fashioned music and a waltz or two, but instead she had found herself faced with a horde of teenaged witches and wizards dancing wildly to the latest track by the Weird Sisters, joined by a few brave adults who had grown restless simply watching from the sidelines.

"Come on, then!" Teddy grinned as he stepped out of the cottage behind her, and with that he grabbed hold of the muggle by the hand and made a beeline for the swarming dance floor. The two of them danced for a song or two quite happily, though Carrie had to admit that it was more a case of her dancing and Teddy circling around her in an attempt to stop the raucous dancers around them barging into her too often. It was strange, the muggle mused, that the village teenagers came across as such a rowdy bunch, for she barely caught wind of them at all most of the time, they always seemed very serious and subdued. Once the latest song had ended in a booming crescendo and a cheer from the crowd, Carrie reached to grab hold of Teddy by the elbow, gesturing towards the edge of the crowd. They made a dash for the drinks table as another song began to play, both grinning widely at one another.

"Merlin...what're they all on?" Carrie asked as Teddy glanced back over his shoulder at the dancers with a snigger.

"I have no idea," the youngest Lupin admitted, "but I might quite like some myself! D'you want a drink, Sweetheart?"

Carrie eyed the selection of drinks in consideration, gaze coming to rest upon a large pitcher full of an alarming acid green concoction.

"You don't want that." Teddy told her as he reached to pick up a bottle of butterbeer. "It'll knock you out as soon as hit the back of your throat!"

"Your mum drinks it." Carrie recalled, reaching to pick up the pitcher and give it an experimental sniff, the strong stench of alcohol burning at her nostrils. "She had some at the Phoenix Day Parade that day."

"More fool her, then." Teddy grinned, uncapping his bottle with a sharp tap of his wand. "Kills brain cells with every drop, that's what Dad says."

"Your Uncle Charlie got pretty sozzled on it."

"Mm...that's because he's a lightweight."

"And your mum isn't?"

"She's a Black. Bunch of crazed alcoholics, the lot of them, they don't bat an eyelid at poison like that!"

As she set the pitched back down, Carrie gave a giggle.

"What about your dad?" she wondered, and the metamorphmagus smirked.

"He drinks a lot of lemonade."

As she reached for a plastic cup, Carrie stifled her amusement into a hand, only for Teddy to give a shrug.

"Dad says Mum can drink him under the table if she fancied, which is why he sticks to the odd Fire Whiskey and a bit of wine on special occasions. That way he's never left entirely at her mercy and he'll never wake up with a hangover to discover she's locked him out in the back garden in his underwear and a pair of her flip flops."

"She WOULDN'T!" Carrie cried, slapping a hand down upon the table in amusement, and Teddy's expression grew distinctly disturbed as he mumbled:

"I think she already did, years and years ago...Dad just won't admit to it."

"Your parents are mental." Carrie pointed out as he poured her some butterbeer before taking a swig from the remnants left in the bottle.

"I know."

"I think it's wonderful."

"You would do. They're not your parents."

As they wandered along in search of a suitable space to stand together, Carrie leant her head against Teddy's shoulder, frowning deeply.

"Don't you think it's good? They way they are, I mean. Don't you think it would be good, if you were older and you were married, to be like them? Fun and...and not boring..."

Despite giving his eyes an exaggerated roll, the wizard consented to admitting:

"Well nobody wants to end up boring, do they? But at the same time I'm obliged to disapprove of them. They're my parents."

It was not long before the parents in question appeared to usher Teddy away towards a slightly less noisy corner for a quiet word or two. Staring after them, Carrie wondered quite what they had to talk about, before somebody sidled up next to her and observed:

"Well you look lonely now, stood there all on your own."

Carrie turned to offer Samuel a slightly awkward smile. Quite frankly she was surprised to see him go out of his way to speak to her. She was pretty sure that after her dealings with the Carters she was by no means his favourite person. She was, then, more surprised still when he asked:

"D'you fancy a dance, then?"

"Oh..." Carrie mumbled, glancing down at the half-empty cup in her hands. "I um...well..."

"C'mon," the wizard instructed briskly, grinning widely as he reached to prise the cup from her hand, setting it down on a crate that had been stacked just behind her. "Don't be a spoil sport, will you? It's a party, for Merlin's sake!"

It quickly occurred to Carrie, as she rather reluctantly allowed him to drag her back into the thronging crowd of dancers, that Samuel's sudden decision to be friends might well have something to do with his current state of mind, which was without a doubt from a glance at his stumbling walk, rather on the inebriated side to say the least. It was faintly alarming, the muggle mused as she consented to swaying from side to side in time to the music, wincing ever so slightly when he seized hold of her hand and set about swinging their arms back and forth. The party hadn't started all that long ago and he was already very drunk indeed. In fact he was so drunk that he didn't seem to notice that he was holding onto her at all, or that if he kept on the way he was he might pull her arm right out of its socket...

And it was then, a couple of songs later, still being jostled around by the crowd, her shoulder throbbing from Samuel's drunken enthusiasm for dancing, that Carrie saw him.

Stood at the very edge of the clearing, leant against a tree.

And despite the crowds of people between them, Carrie Winters managed to pause in her dancing to stare at Kit Carter, and Kit Carter stared right back.

Carrie felt suddenly as if the world around her was somehow distant, disconnected, and she stopped dead, entirely unaware of her arm still being swung back and forth.

Kit Carter smiled. The sight made the muggle feel instantly giddy, and she felt a swell of panic at the thought that she felt as if she were dreaming, as if this were another forbidden thought that seemed to be slowly taking over her mind over the past few days, until here she was, wide awake and utterly enchanted by the sight of him.

Which was, of course, entirely wrong. Wrong, unacceptable, utterly unreasonable...

And yet, what about attraction or infatuation was entirely reasonable?

And what about love? Love wasn't reasonable, it was roaring, overwhelming fire that paid no attention to the notion of reason...

_Love_. Had she really just thought that? _Love...!_

He was getting closer. Or perhaps she was the one who was moving, Carrie wasn't entirely sure...

She pushed her way through the crowds in her hurry to reach him, though she wasn't entirely sure why, and as soon as she had broken free from the dancers her stomach clenched at the sight of movement, he turned and disappeared off into the trees.

Carrie hurried after him, slipping into the shade of the trees and creeping across the woodland floor, sucking in a deep breath and holding it. And as she followed him through the woods, it suddenly occurred to her that she had dreamt this before.

She knew this game.

She knew how it ended, too...

Her heart stopped dead in her chest when many minutes later he turned round to face her, and her mouth went dry at the realisation that in the flesh he truly was more devastatingly beautiful and sombre than she ever could have dreamed.

"You've been following me." Kit Carter observed, and Carrie reached with a trembling hand to feel the tree trunk at her back, right where it had been before in her dreams...

And yet this wasn't a dream. It was real, it was dreadfully real.

Dreadfully better.

_Say it_, she told herself eagerly, _go on and say it, you know what to say when he says that..._

"You've been staring through my window."

As he always did, Kit Carter looked abashed at her reply, and yet his cheeks were flushed with such vivid, real colour that Carrie felt a sudden urge to walk forwards until she could reach to press her hand to his cheek, to feel the warmth of them, an extension of the burning blood that she could feel pulsing through her veins. She didn't hear his reply, so preoccupied was she by the anticipation of it, but it didn't matter, she knew what it would be, she knew where this was going...

And this wasn't a dream. There wasn't anybody about to wake her up...

She watched him walk slowly towards her, that wonderfully sad smile upon his lips. It was a real smile, real leaves crushed beneath his feet, her real heartbeat thundering in her chest...

Which made it far from harmless, Carrie suddenly realised as he came to a halt just in front of her, and quite suddenly she was seized with sheer panic.

_How in Merlin's name did I get here? What's going on, what am I doing..._

_But Teddy..._

"It's alright." she heard the animagus whisper, still smiling as he reached to brush the hair from her eyes. The movement made the muggle shudder.

And...it was alright.

It was all alright.

It was better than alright. It was wonderful. It was magnificent. Glorious...

Carrie Winters was sure that despite her hazy mind she could have thought of a thousand or more other words to describe just how serene and perfect everything was at that precise moment in time, but half a second later she felt too overcome by sensation of Kit Carter's lips against her own.


	13. Intoxicated

_Note: I would just like to point out that, since I can't stand the taste of alcohol/have been on daily medication that probably wouldn't mix well with drink since I was 12, I've never been drunk. So, the "side effects" that Remus and Dora note below might well be entirely wrong, since they are based on stuff I've been told over the years and Wikipedia – I don't know if it would come across so extremely in reality...so...humour me, boys and girls! :-)_

_Sorry for the shortness of this chapter...I have 5 days left to finish my last project/practice for a test, then I will probably be on a work placement for about two weeks...but I should have more time to write then as at least I won't have any work to do when I get home each day!_

**13: Intoxicated**

Carrie felt as if her head were spinning.

The thumping music of the party was more than she could bear, and she stumbled hurriedly around the edge of the cottage and felt relieved to slip silently through the front door and inside.

At first she thought the place deserted, and she very nearly let out a sigh of relief at the peace and quiet until she spotted a figure sat before the fire. The muggle promptly jumped.

From where he sat facing away from her, Remus Lupin glanced over his shoulder to spot his son's girlfriend, before going back to stare at the ashes of the long since burnt out fire.

"Having fun?" the werewolf inquired, leaning back upon the sofa so that he could stretch his legs out in front of him, and the muggle simply stood for a long moment, staring at the back of his head.

Eventually, Carrie settled on a rather uncertain:

"Mm..."

As he drained the last few drops of fire whiskey from the glass tumbler he had been balancing somewhat precariously upon one knee, the muggle felt compelled to shuffle across the room until she could perch upon the arm of the sofa at his side.

"Remus?"

"Carrie."

Carrie rocked back and forward upon her perch for a moment, sucking in a deep, audible breath before wondering:

"Did you ever do something...something you can't explain? Like...like you don't know why you did it?"

As he reached to retrieve a bottle from the coffee table so that he could refill his glass, Remus' expression was mildly amused.

"I doubt it." he said as he unscrewed the lid of the bottle, tossing it onto the table. "Something I'd be ashamed to explain, perhaps...or something I'd chose to forget the explanation for..." He eyed the bottle, eyebrows knitting together for a moment as he mused: "Or perhaps one could just plain forget..."

"What about not knowing why you're doing it...whilst you're doing it?" Carrie asked, slumping sideways with a deep frown of bemusement at her recent exploits, and as her head came to rest against the werewolf's shoulder he gave a rather frustrating chuckle.

"I'd hazard a guess that, in a situation such as that, you'd be lying to yourself Carrie." he said, pouring himself a generous measure of amber liquid and reaching, quite awkwardly now that she was leant against him, to put the bottle back down.

Carrie's face contorted worriedly at this conclusion and after a long pause she found herself admitting:

"I think, Remus...I think I might be going a little mad."

Again, Remus merely chuckled.

"I shouldn't worry about that if I were you." he told the muggle, glancing sideways as she gave a heavy sigh. "Happens to the best of us."

Carrie couldn't help but feel that he wasn't taking her terribly seriously, which was deeply unfortunate because he could usually be relied upon to do exactly that, and right now she wanted nothing more than to talk deadly seriously. She eyed the bottle of fire whiskey in an attempt to determine how much of it he had consumed, musing that perhaps he was a little on the inebriated side, but she found it difficult to decide. She'd never caught him more than a little merry in all the years that she had known him, so she hadn't much of an example to judge his current state against. He wasn't slurring his words in the slightest, yet he looked distinctly sleepy...

The muggle wondered whether or not he would be offended if she just came out with it and asked...

"How much have you had to drink this afternoon?"

To hear him steal the words straight from the tip of her tongue made Carrie jump, narrowly avoiding head-butting him in the temple.

"What?" she asked, hastily sitting up straight, wobbling at the sudden movement.

Remus took a moment to take a sip of his drink, as if politely waiting for her to finish being flustered and compose herself a little, before again inquiring:

"How much have you had to drink this afternoon?"

"I've had half a butterbeer!" Carrie informed him indigently, folding her arms firmly across her chest.

"If you say so." Remus murmured, evidently disbelieving, and Carrie felt quite furious at him for yet again being so out of character.

"I lost my balance just now, that's all!" she cried, offering him the best scowl that she could muster. "Dora does it all the time! You don't...you don't ask Dora if she's drunk when she slips on something, do you?"

"That's because she'd hex me." Remus pointed out nonchalantly, waving a dismissive hand as he assured her: "It was just a question, Carrie. You're a big girl, I honestly don't care whether you've had a couple too many or not..."

"I haven't!"

"Alright then."

In the ensuing silence, Carrie felt a sudden wave of guilt and embarrassment at having snapped at him so rudely, but she felt far too ashamed to even mumble an apology.

Remus drained his glass again and got to his feet, making a beeline for the kitchen sink.

"Do you want a glass of water?" he asked, and Carrie had to bite her tongue against snapping again.

_He thinks I'm plastered_, she realised, reaching to rake a frustrated hand through her hair. Of course it probably had to do with all of the questions she had just asked him, and if she looked as dazed as she felt right now after her encounter with Kit in the woods...well!  
>"No thank you." she managed to reply in what she hoped was a perfectly sober manner. It shouldn't be difficult, after all she wasn't drunk in the slightest.<p>

Not in the traditional sense of the word, at least. No, Carrie felt more inebriated in the sense that she had just done something utterly unforgivable and dreadful, had enjoyed it immensely, and was feeling increasingly confused and worried and bordering on frightened.

And she couldn't tell a soul.

"It wasn't really a question." Remus admitted as he retrieved a clean glass from the draining board, and Carrie managed a rather weary little laugh, just as the door to the cottage opened and Dora stumbled in, casting a brief glance at Carrie as she headed to join her husband at the sink.

"Wotcher Carrie love."

"Hi Dora." Carrie mumbled, preoccupied with eying Remus somewhat wearily as he poured her some water.

"You're hiding!" the muggle heard the witch observe as she reached her husband, arms sliding around him as her head came to rest against his back with a rather telling giggle.

"Headache." the werewolf muttered, pausing in his task when her hold upon him rendered him somewhat immobile.

"Mm..." Dora frowned, turning a little until she could cast a glance sideways to catch sight of the fire whiskey upon the coffee table. "Figures!" she sniggered, and Remus smirked.

"It's the music, actually." he murmured, voice so low that Carrie could only just make it out. "I'd say I was remarkably sober...compared to some..." he trailed off into an inaudible whisper, but he may as well have shouted for it was soon startlingly obvious what he had been speaking of. Dora slowly released him and wandered in a non-too casual manner to stand in front of Carrie. The witch leant forward a little, staring at the muggle directly in the eye, before concluding with a snigger:  
>"Bloody hell, Remus! I think you're right!"<p>

Carrie opened her mouth to point out yet again that she wasn't drunk in the slightest, but promptly closed it again when she wondered exactly what it was about her face that was apparently so telling.

"What?" she mumbled, reaching to touch a hand to her cheek experimentally, but Dora simply straightened up, eyebrow arched as she asked:

"So...where's Ted gotten to then? You've not left him passed out in a bush somewhere, have you?"

At mention of Teddy, Carrie shifted uncomfortably where she sat, cheeks tinged a guilty shade of pink.

Merlin...the mere thought of Teddy! Her Teddy who she adored above everything, who had been her best friend for so many years...

"Take that as a yes then, shall I?" Dora concluded, puffing her cheeks in exasperation as she muttered: "Sweet Merlin..." And with that, she dissolved into laughter.

"No, he's...with Samuel or something." Carrie decided, suddenly remembering that she had actually been asked a question.

"Excellent," the witch grinned, sauntering back over towards her husband. "Here's an idea then, Carrie love, stick to water for the rest of the afternoon, eh? We've had enough of people throwing up all over the place for one holiday, don't you reckon Remus?"

"I'd say so, yes." Remus agreed with a small frown, and with that Carrie found the glass of water being levitated across the room to hover in front of her. No sooner had her hand enclosed around the glass, the couple made a beeline for the door, disappearing outside and leaving the muggle entirely alone.

Carrie instantly abandoned the glass upon the coffee table, jumped to her feet and made a run for her designated bedroom. There, she hurried to peer at herself in the small mirror upon the wall, heart hammering in her chest in anticipation.

At first glance, Carrie could see nothing particularly remarkable about the reflection staring back at her. Her cheeks were admittedly a little flushed, but apart from that...

The muggle gasped, reaching to press a horrified hand to her mouth.

The pupils of her eyes were massively dilated, a couple of vast black pools that left a lump to form in her throat.

_What in Merlin's name..._

"REMUS! DORA!"

Carrie ran in panic back out of the bedroom, across the sitting room towards the front door and flung it open, gaze darting searchingly around for couple, and she just about caught sight of Dora's vibrant hair as she and Remus sidled their way through the crowd. Carrie dashed after them, pushing her way past a raucous group of dancers and very nearly causing an elderly wizard to splash wine down the front of his robes.

"Watch it!" the man cried indigently, but Carrie barely heard him, so intent was she on catching up with the Lupins.

"REMUS!" As she broke free of the crowd her final shout finally seemed to catch their attention, and the couple paused in their talking to turn and regard the breathless muggle as she came to a stumbling halt before them.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked as Dora offered the muggle a raised eyebrow.

"My EYES!" Carrie cried, widening the eyes in question in agitation. "What's wrong with them?"

The couple gazed at her wide-eyed face for a second, before Dora promptly dissolved into laughter, turning to bury her face in Remus' shoulder. As the werewolf visibly fought against a grin, Carrie felt compelled to inform the two of them:

"THIS ISN'T BLOODY FUNNY!"

"Of course it isn't." Remus agreed, attempting to sober and reaching to give Dora a firm push away from him. "Dora, stop laughing this instant!"

"I can't!" the witch choked out between her laughter. "I swear it, I can't..."

"Ignore her." Remus suggested, stepping forward to lay a steady hand upon the muggle's shoulder. "She's been at the Killing Juice."

"Killing Juice?"

"Mm...it's green for a reason, you know! It's not killed her yet, but it's made her awfully giggly."

When Dora merely reached to bury her face in her hands, laughing more than ever, Remus reached to steer Carrie away from her for a few steps.

"What's wrong with me?" Carrie asked once she was finished shooting Dora the filthiest look that she could muster, not that the witch appeared to notice, "What's...why do my eyes look...look so strange?"

"There's nothing wrong with you, Carrie." Remus assured her, "you'll be fine by morning..."

Carrie promptly rounded on him, stepping back until her shoulder was free of his hand.

"I'm not drunk!" she insisted furiously. "I'm not! I told you, I had some butterbeer!"

Remus sighed heavily, reaching to rub a weary hand across his eyes.

"Carrie, like I said earlier, I honestly don't care whether or not..."

"I'm not lying! Do I sound drunk to you?"

"Not particularly, no..."

"Well then!"

"...but I don't see any other reasonable explanation for you to look so...well..."

"Utterly pissed!"

"Thank you, Dora..." Remus sighed again, frowning deeply at his wife's interruption, and his face contorted in annoyance when Dora wandered back to his side and announced in an exaggerated whisper:

"Well there is another explanation that I know of..."

"Be quiet, Dora."

Dora'e eyes grew wide and Carrie was just musing that her pupils looked rather worse for wear too when the witch hissed:

"Maybe she's under the Imperius Curse!"

At this notion, Carrie's blood ran cold, Dora's instant laughter doing little to make her feel any better.

"Dora _be quiet_." Remus insisted, reaching to clamp a hand over the witch's mouth. "That's not funny."

"Neither's you naming a drink after the Killing Curse!" Dora informed him once she had managed to yank his hand away her mouth. "Let's just accept it, Remus, we're both slightly sick and twisted individuals..."

"_Dora_...!"

At long last spotting the look of horror on Carrie's face, the Auror managed to wipe the amusement clear from her face. Despite herself Carrie found herself musing that really it was quite an impressive shift in expressions. It probably took practice, the muggle thought, which rather begged the question: when did the Auror get the chance? She rarely drank heavily from what Carrie knew...

"I'm just kidding, Carrie love." Dora assured her with a reassuring smile. "Remus is right...somebody probably spiked the butterbeer or something. I wouldn't put it past that lot, would you? Look at them...!"

"Somebody spiked my drink?"

"Probably!"  
>Carrie frowned deeply, shaking her head.<p>

"I...I don't think so..." she mumbled, reaching to scratch the back of her neck worriedly, but Dora shrugged and insisted:

"Well it's the only logical reason..."

"What about the Imperius Curse?" Carrie asked, folding her arms firmly across her chest, and Dora rolled her eyes.

"You're not under the Imperius Curse, Carrie." she said, "if you were you wouldn't know about it..."

"The phrase is _if you were you would know about it_." Carrie pointed out rather irritably, and Dora sniggered.

"I know what the phrase is, love, and I wasn't trying to use it."

"What Dora's trying to say," Remus interjected, "is that if you were under the Imperius Curse, nobody in their right mind would send you to follow us and _ask_ if you were under the Imperius Curse, would they?"

"But then again," Dora mused, sounding abruptly thoughtful, "I'd say if you're the sort of person who puts another person under the Imperius Curse you're probably not in any sort of_ right mind_ at all..."

"Dora?"

"Hm?"

"Be quiet."

"Right..."

Remus offered Carrie a look of sheer exasperation before smiling and suggesting:

"Try and get an early night once all this is over. You'll be right as rain by morning, I'm sure of it."

"Well..." Carrie mumbled, shifting her feet a little anxiously, "if...if you're quite sure..."

"We're positive, love." Dora insisted, nodding her head a little too vigorously than was strictly necessary. "Honestly! Why don't you run and find Ted and warn him off the butterbeer for the rest of the day?"

"Yes..." Carrie agreed, frowning deeply. "Yes, I should really, shouldn't I?" She offered the couple a fleeting smile before turning to hurry away in search of Teddy.

"Under the Imperius Curse...!" she heard Remus mutter disapprovingly almost as soon as she had turned her back on them. "Honestly, Nymphadora..."

"Don't you DARE..."

"...utterly ridiculous and unbelievable insensitive! You Aurors, you're all the same! Disgraceful sense of humour..."

"Take it back! Take back the name, or I swear..."

"I certainly won't. You're too far gone to remember me using it, I'll make the most of this opportunity thank you very m..."

Carrie glanced back just in time to see the werewolf's sentence cut off by his wife's sudden stranglehold around his neck, the last syllables smothered by a distinctly clumsy kiss that very nearly made him stumble and trip over his own feet.

Carrie sidled her way back through the crowd, the Auror's small small shriek of amusement drifting after her. The muggle had to admit to herself that she felt only marginally calmer after Remus and Dora's assurances. Dora seemed a little too tipsy to have her opinion wholly relied upon, and Remus still didn't seem to be taking her terribly seriously. Carrie felt a somewhat sinking feeling at this second thought. Perhaps she was right, perhaps they truly were growing tired of her ups and downs.

She wandered somewhat aimlessly through the village, dodging dancers and gazing aimlessly around, quite lost in thought, and it was not long until she had entirely forgotten what it was she was supposed to tell Teddy when she found him. Indeed after a while she wasn't quite sure that she was looking for Teddy in the first place...

She had come to stand idly by one of the tables that had already been cleared of food, save for a lonely cocktail sausage or two, when she heard movement just behind her, and quite suddenly the world became obscured by a pair of hands being clamped down over her eyes. She failed to suppress a small gasp of surprise, only to dissolve into giggles as a voice behind her whispered:

"Guess who?"

It took Carrie a long moment to stifle her amusement just long enough to give a very confident guess:

"Kit!" she laughed, reaching to pull his hands away so that she could spin around to face him, only for the laughter to promptly die on her face as Teddy Lupin frowned deeply, his hands dropping heavily to his sides as he admitted:

"No...not him..."


	14. A Witch Can Only Dream

_Note: And here we are, poised ready for the grand finale...almost. That's right everybody, we are in actual fact nearing the end of this story! Don't worry, though, there's already a brand new and shiny one in the works, if anybody fancies reading it! (Good grief, I really am dragging this series out for a millennia, aren't I? It's a miracle you aren't all bored to death by now...) :-)_

_For anybody itching for the conversation between Carrie and Teddy thanks to her blunder – don't worry, I'm not skipping over it, it'll be visited in due course. (Don't flame me for messing around with time, pretty please. I just feel that scene would make more sense after the things that are revealed in this chapter/the next one! Or more to the point I'm not a genius and this makes it easier to write.) For now, though, we're going to do something radical and have a change in perspective! SHOCK! It's another tricky chapter...I hope SOMEBODY likes it because it didn't turn out as I planned._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**14: A Witch Can Only Dream**

There was, Dora Lupin realised as she dragged her lips reluctantly away from her husband's jaw in order to bury her face in his shoulder, absolutely no doubt about it at all: After twenty years of married life, Remus' infuriating tendency to be downright sensible had well and truly rubbed off on her.

"I'm drunk." she informed the werewolf frankly as his chin came to rest atop her head. "Stop taking advantage of me and start searching for one of those miracle potions we used to give Sirius each morning..."

Remus gave an exaggerated sigh, his shoulders slumping.

"Well," he grumbled, loosening his grip upon her waist, "if you insist...is there one in here?"

As she felt a hand slip searchingly into the pocket of her robes, Dora gritted her teeth against a snigger.

"Nope." she admitted, and promptly failed not to giggle when his other hand reached to search in the pocket on her other side.

"What about in here?"

"No...not in there...I know Aurors are supposed to always be prepared and everything, but I'm pretty sure I don't just wander around with Sober Up potions jingling around in my..." she cut off her sentence abruptly with a gasp that sounded at least ten times louder than she had intended as she felt his hands slip into the back pockets of her jeans.

"Here, perhaps?" he wondered, smothering a grin into her hair, and she was forced to admit:

"No, not there either..."

"Sweet Merlin," he breathed in mock-surprise, his eyes wide as he towed her away from him by the backs of her trousers so as to offer her a raised eyebrow. "You don't hide them in your underwear, do you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she shot back before she could quite stop herself, and at his snigger she promptly reached to slap her hands rebukingly and yet feebly against his chest. "I mean it, Remus, I'll have a bloody awful head in the morning..."

"Alright, alright..." he sighed again, sliding his hands reluctantly out of her pockets and reaching to take hold of her by the hand instead. "Let's go and ransack Neve's cupboards, she's bound to have something."

They wandered back to the cottage, where she promptly collapsed down upon the sofa and frowned up at the ceiling, listening to him search through the kitchen cupboards. They had only been there a matter of minutes when the front door was flung back on its hinges and Teddy bolted across the room, his face like thunder and his steps stomping so loudly that the sound made Dora wince. The witch was just opening her mouth to mutter something suitably irritable, when Carrie came stumbling somewhat breathlessly after Teddy, entirely oblivious to the two adults staring at her as she exclaimed:

"That's not what I meant! I...I didn't mean...it's just...Teddy! Ted, wait!"

As she watched her son disappear into his designated bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him, Dora sucked in a deep breath in anticipation of a collision when Carrie was forced to skid to a halt. For a long moment, the muggle simply stood, shoulders slumped dejectedly as she contemplated the closed door before her, and then, slowly, she turned around to regard the two spectators with wide eyes. She looked from Dora to Remus, and then back to Dora again, and before either adult could utter a word, the girl let out a choked sob and fled into her own room, slamming the door shut behind her.

Yet again, Dora winced.

There was a sizeable pause before the Auror finally murmured:

"Wow."

Remus took this as his cue to finally put down the jar that he had been holding just a few millimetres above the kitchen countertop, though he did not resume his search of the cupboards. Instead he leant back against the surface, palms flat upon the counter as he agreed:

"Indeed."

Husband and wife continued to eye the two closed doors for another long moment, before she dragged herself up into a sitting position and wondered:

"D'you think perhaps we should..."

"No." Remus decided, turning purposefully back to the cupboard. "I don't think so."

"No, I thought not." Dora agreed, nodding her head a little. "I'm sure they'll...you know..."

"Yes. I expect they will. It's probably just..."

"Nothing."

"Yes."

Dora puffed her cheeks, frowning deeply as Remus pushed aside a few more bottles and vials and extracted a promising looking little bottleful of pale blue liquid.

"It's just I don't think I ever remember them...well, having an argument before, can you?" Dora mused, and when he came to perch upon the sofa beside her she turned to gaze at him rather curiously.

"Not like that, no."

As Remus uncorked the little bottle and held it out for her to take, Dora recalled:

"Well if I think about it there was that time last year, wasn't there? Ted said something daft about Cleo and Carrie wouldn't let him apparate her home, you had to do it because she said they _weren't talking_."

"She came for breakfast the next day."

"Exactly. It's probably a big fuss over nothing."

And with that, Dora accepted the bottle and, wrinkling her nose a little at the smell, downed the sickeningly syrup=like substance in one gulp.

"Ah," she sighed, leaning to set the empty little bottle down upon the coffee table, before settling back upon the sofa, head resting against the werewolf's shoulder. "That's better..."

A door creaked slowly open and as the two of them turned again to look towards the doors.

"Mum...?"

The notion of things being better promptly evaporated from Dora's mind along with the fuzziness of alcohol at the sight of an ashen-faced Teddy shuffling across the room towards them, and she hastily shuffled closer to Remus, reaching to pat the empty space beside her.

"Having fun and games, Sweetheart?" she asked as the dull-haired boy flopped down beside her, and he promptly leant to bury his face in her shoulder with a rather worrying sniff.

"It's not fair, Mum." he whispered miserably as she reached to put an arm around him. "It's just...it's just not fair, not right! It's...it's all wrong!"

"What's wrong, love?" Dora asked, hand smoothing his hair soothingly, but his face merely contorted in agitation.

"Everything!" he cried, slumping further against her. "Everything's wrong! I...I wish...I wish we never came here! I want to go home!"

"Come on, Sweetheart, I'm sure it's not as bad as you think..."

"Yes it is! It is, Mum, it's...it's awful!"

Dora cast a sideways glance at Remus, and the werewolf offered her a raised eyebrow. Pausing to stifle a yawn into her sleeve, the witch tightened her grip upon her son as she observed:

"It seems to me, love, that you and Carrie are having a bad afternoon, am I right?"

"She's supposed to love me!" Teddy complained dejectedly, apparently not entirely listening to his mother's observation at all. Nevertheless, the witch carried on regardless.

"She's said something silly, or you've said something silly, maybe the pair of you have said a whole raft of silly things! But never you mind, eh? Give it half an hour or so, the pair of you can calm down, you can both apologise and that'll be that."

"It's not that simple, Mum."

"Isn't it? You'd be surprised how far saying sorry can get you, you know."

As he drew back from her shoulder so that he could fix his mother with a bordering on accusing look at her apparent lack of understanding, Teddy appeared entirely oblivious to the front door opening and Edwin and Neve stepping inside.

"It would be alright to tell Dad you're in love with somebody else then, would it? Just as long as you tell him you're sorry?"

There was a sizeable pause as Dora processed the words that were flung at her before she finally managed to wonder:

"Carrie said _what_?"

"Sounds like a big misunderstanding, if you ask me." Remus put in rather unhelpfully, seemingly incapable of comprehending such a tale, and his son promptly shot him a scowl, only to collapse back against Dora's shoulder.

As Edwin and Neve crept over towards the kettle in an attempt not to intrude on the unexpected family drama, Dora frowned up at the ceiling for a moment, fingers toying with Teddy's hair again until she sucked in a deep, reluctant breath to ask:

"So...who's the unfortunate young man, then? Fetch me a quill and parchment and I'll set Jasmine on him..."

"M-_um_!"

"Alright, alright! Spit it out then, love! Who, what, where and how?"

"I...I don't know how." Teddy sniffed, voice muffled by Dora's shoulder. "It...it doesn't make any...any sense, she...she doesn't even...she didn't even like h...him...and she's known him all of a few days! I...I don't understand...she...she's known me forever...how...how can she suddenly think she loves HIM?"

"Who, Sweetheart?" Dora asked softly, still entirely bemused by the whole situation. One glance at Remus suggested he too could make little sense of the situation, and the werewolf's eyebrows shot up towards his hairline when Teddy replied:

"Kit Carter!"

The kettle that Edwin had been midway through filling was promptly slammed down upon the countertop as both he and his wife spun around to stare at the trio upon the sofa.

Dora let out a rather awkward chuckle.

"Don't be daft, Teddy love." she said, "Why on earth would Carrie say something as daft as that? Like you just said, she barely knows him! Isn't that right, Remus?"

"It doesn't sound like the sort of thing Carrie would say at all." Remus agreed, only for Teddy to mumble something so woefully that his mother was forced to ask:

"What's that, Sweetheart?"

"She kissed him!" Teddy admitted, sounding rather as if he had been punched in the stomach, and Dora promptly turned back to Remus to ask:

"Love, are you _sure_ I'm not still drunk?"

"I don't believe a word of that." Remus insisted, ignoring his wife entirely. "It sounds like utter nonsense..."

"But that's what she said!" Teddy moaned, a few stray tears beginning to gather in a damp patch upon Dora's shoulder. "Why...why would she say it if...if it were a lie?"

"Merlin knows," Remus mumbled, frowning deeply. "Who knows what's going on in her head today? She's not been herself this afternoon."

"She's not been herself the past few days." Dora corrected, recalling their late night little chat the previous night.

"What d'you mean by that?" Edwin asked sharply, and when she glanced over at him Dora saw Neve reach to press an unease hand to her mouth. The Auror gave a rather uncertain shrug.

"I don't know," she murmured, looking to Remus for some sort of help, "she's just...different, don't you think? She doesn't usually act so...well..."

"So what?" Edwin probed, taking an anxious step forwards.

"Well Carrie's not the sort of girl who'd think she was in love with somebody she barely knew, for one thing." Dora mused, giving Teddy's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "She's far too sensible for rubbish like that, and even if she wasn't I'd have laughed the notion out of her by now!"

"She's not in the habit of drinking much, either." Remus recalled, and Teddy mumbled:

"She's only had one butterbeer."

"Yeah...'course she has." Dora muttered disbelievingly. "You should've seen her, Edwin..."  
>"Eyes as big as snitches, were they?" Edwin asked bluntly, and all three Lupins turned to stare at him.<p>

"That's right." Remus admitted as Teddy sat up straight, utterly bemused.

"And you told 'er she was drunk, didn't you?" Edwin accused, folding his arms firmly across his chest, and Dora felt an uncertain sense of dread begin to settle in her stomach to see Neve reach back to grip hold of the kitchen countertop rather as if her life depended upon it.

Remus opened his mouth to say something, only to promptly close it again.

"Only she's not drunk, is she? Not with dilation as extreme as that! I know it! And you bloody know it too if you could be bothered to think about it, don't you? Both of you!"

"Edwin..." Dora began, not entirely sure what it was that she planned on saying, finding Teddy's increasingly worried stare searing into the side of her head, but Edwin ignored her.

"I knew it back then, too!" he cried, face fast turning a bright shade of red. "I knew it the day my Sable came back from visiting that wicked boy in that filthy little hovel! I knew something wasn't right! I knew something was afoot! But I went and accused 'er of drinking herself silly, didn't I? Just like you bloody have! Because I didn't want to know! I wanted a quiet life! And where was she the next bloody day, eh? Lying lifeless out there in the woods! Gone forever! DEAD!"

Neve promptly burst into tears, but nobody seemed to notice, Remus was too busy gazing bleakly at his shoes and Teddy had risen abruptly from his seat, his misery replaced by sheer panic.

Dora's hands twisted together into a tight knot in her lap, the guilt and dread seeping over her until her shoulders tensed worriedly and she muttered a distinctly guilty:

"Oh crap..."

"What have you done?" Teddy demanded, staring at his parents anxiously, and Dora promptly reached to bury her face in her hands, muttering a few more expletives for good measure.

"Listen, Ted..." Remus began rather reluctantly. "I'm sure there's nothing to panic about...of course Edwin's right and we were being daft. Carrie isn't drunk...obviously there's...something else wrong with her. But...well...she's in her bedroom, isn't she? She's perfectly safe here with all of us..."

"So was Sable, I bet!" Teddy snapped, hands balling into fists. "There's something awful going on and you bloody knew it!"

"I don't know precisely..."

"You bloody noticed something was wrong with her and you've...you've bloody ignored it! How can you be just...just SITTING THERE WHEN YOU KNOW?"

"I have no idea what's wrong with her, Teddy..."

"What's wrong with you? That Kit Carter's up to something wicked! Why don't you get off your bloody backsides and bloody start_ doing_ something about it?"

Dora's hands fell back to her lap with a slap, face contorting rather furiously as she snapped:

"Because this is our holiday! For us! Just the two of us! It's our time to spent together, having a nice time and not having anything to worry about! We've been at a party! We've had a bit to drink, we've had some good news, we've been happy and celebrating! And it's been wonderful! And we wanted it to stay that way! Are you going to blame us, Ted? Are you going to blame us for wanting a stress-free, quiet, nice and normal holiday?"

There was a sizeable pause at this outburst, and Teddy took a turn at gazing at his feet when his mother promptly turned to bury her face in her husband's shoulder with a heavy sigh.

"Your mother's right, Ted." Remus murmured, reaching to put an arm around the crumpled witch. "It might be wrong of us, but it's easy to convince yourself of something if you want to believe it badly enough."

"Carrie could...could die or something, Dad!" Teddy cried, reaching to tug anxiously at fistfuls of mousy brown hair. "If...if Kit Carter's up to something and whatever happened to Sable is happening to Carrie then...then...!"

"Calm down." Remus interrupted, reaching to sweep Dora's hair back soothingly. "We don't know what's wrong with her, so jumping to conclusions isn't going to help. We mustn't panic, we need to think clearly if we're to have any chance of figuring out what's going on."

"I say we go round to that stinking lair of theirs and get some bloody answers!" Edwin growled, making his wife visibly shudder at such a notion, only for Remus to insist:

"That would be foolish. We don't know what we're dealing with. No, we need to find some answers ourselves...then we can come up with a plan. Somebody ought go and sit with Carrie, make sure she doesn't wander off anywhere or do anything dangerous...she's good at that..."

At the beginnings of a serious course of action, Dora abruptly sat upright again, so utterly livid at the whole business that she felt quite fit to burst.

"This was supposed to be a relaxing getaway!" she shrieked furiously. "Which MORON thought it was a good idea to bring HER with us?"

"Well Sweetheart," Remus mumbled warily at the risk of being hexed, "That would have been you..."

"Shut up!" the Auror cried, barely resisting the urge to land a firm slap upon his arm. "Just shut up!"

"_Dora_." Remus reached to lay a firm hand upon her arm and for a moment the couple gazed at one another, a silent plea for sanity, and Dora was forced to draw in a deep breath, squashing the fury until it left little but bleak disappointment weighing heavily upon her shoulders, making them slump.

"I just wanted...just for once...!" she began to mumble wearily, and despite the disappointment, Remus found himself smiling.

"It's Carrie." he pointed out, one eyebrow raised, and his wife sighed heavily and muttered:

"A witch can only dream, it seems." And with that, she gave her head a resolute little toss and rose to her feet, dusting invisible dirt from the front of her clothes. At Teddy's expectant gaze she told her son: "Well, you heard your dad, Teddy! Somebody needs to keep an eye on Little Miss Trouble in there, so go on! Don't take your eyes off her for a second, d'you hear? And act natural! We don't want to give ourselves away!"

Evidently relieved at his mother barking out instructions, Teddy's expression relaxed a little, only for him to frown deeply and mumble:

"But I've just had a massive row with her...how is me going and sitting with her in any way natural?""

"I don't give a toss!" Dora insisted impatiently as she began to pace briskly back and forwards before the sofa. "Just do it! Keep your wand nearby and if anything dodgy happens...stun her. Or him."

"Him?"

"Or her. Or it. Or whoever's got it in for Carrie...let's stick with _him_, shall we? It doesn't take a Seer to figure that one out."

"You think Kit Carter's going to show up here or...something?" Teddy wondered, already drawing the wand from his pocket, and Edwin instantly grunted:

"I'll be off to Azkaban for murder if he bloody does!"

"I have no idea what Kit plans on doing." Dora said, coming to an abrupt halt in front of Teddy so that she could fix him with a slightly unnerving stare, leaning until there were precious few inches between mother and son. "So," the Auror whispered, dark eyes piercing, "you best keep your wits about you!"

"Neve'll go and fetch Samuel!" Edwin announced, giving his still snivelling wife a firm push towards the door. "Ted can sit with Carrie, Sam can keep watch with his mother in 'ere, I'll keep an eye on the lane. There's still a crowd out there, that slippery Carter devil's easily missed!"

"Which just leaves you and me, Sweetheart." Dora concluded, turning to offer Remus a rather grim smile, and the werewolf's gaze drifted over to stare thoughtfully at the door to Carrie's bedroom as he murmured:

"We've got some thinking to do."


	15. The Maiden's String

_Note: Well, this was a rather dull chapter since it involved a lot of dialogue, so I decided to add some humour into it and poke fun at this series in general! I hope you all like it! Sorry for the length again, I wanted to post before my work placement tomorrow. _

_Thanks to everybody who took the time to review! It was lovely to hear from you!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. _

**15: The Maiden's String**

"The Imperius Curse?"

"That was a joke, Remus."

"I know, but the symptoms are in many ways similar."

"It's not the Imperius Curse. I know the Imperius Curse, it's not that, she's too...too _aware_. She knows there's something wrong with her. The Imperius Curse is much too strong for that...it must be something...something less powerful or..."

"Something more primitive."

"Exactly. An older spell, maybe...something used before the Imperius Curse became so well known."

"Then we're talking Medieval...or..."

"Older than that!"

"Positively ancient magic, then."

"Exactly..." Dora Lupin paused in her pacing to sigh heavily, stretching her arms out before her with a frown before she asked her husband: "How's your knowledge of _positively ancient_ dark magic these days, Sweetheart?"

From his position sprawled upon the sofa, fingers tapping upon the arm of the chair in consideration, Remus admitted:

"A little rusty if truth be told."

"Same here." the Auror admitted, sounding rather irritated with herself at such an admittance. "I've not considered such old magic since the War! Dark wizards these days, they're all so modern and predictable...it's pathetic! Cruciatus Curse here, the odd Killing Curse there..."

"How unimaginative."

"Precisely! You'd have thought Voldemort had taught them a thing or two, but no! They're all crap at being original or unusual! And d'you know what crap Dark Wizards give us?"

"More annual leave for you?" Remus guessed, gaze drifting up towards the ceiling and, despite the situation at hand, a smile began to tug at his lips.

"Apart from that!"

"Permission to sleep soundly in bed at night?"

"Crap, unimaginative Dark Wizards give us crap, unimaginative Aurors!" Dora exclaimed, eyes widening quite madly at the notion, and Remus was forced to admit:

"You're sounding frighteningly like Alastor."

"D'you know what they should do, these pathetic, modern evil geniuses?" the Auror went on, resuming her pacing. "They should try reading a book every now and again! Come up with something impressive!"

"I think we're drifting off topic."

For a long moment the couple were silent in thought, before Dora recalled:

"It's not spell based. It's chemical. It's that drink Kit gave us that made me sick."

"It's like no love potion I've ever heard of before." Remus murmured, toying thoughtfully with the hem of his jumper. "It's...slow. Most love potions take instant effect."

"Most love potions work on whoever happens to drink them."

"But it didn't work on you."

"No...no, it didn't..."

"In which case it's either made specifically for Carrie, or there's something about you that stopped it taking effect. Which begs the question: What makes you so very different from her?"

"I'm a witch?" Dora suggested, at long last tiring of pacing and dropping back down to sit upon the sofa.

"So was Sable." Remus pointed out, and the Auror puffed her cheeks in consideration before trying:

"I can morph?"

"Perhaps..."

"I'm older?"

"Maybe..."

"I'm not bloody suicidal?"

"Indeed."

Dora sighed heavily, reaching to run a weary hand across her eyes.

"We should've been keeping an eye on her." she murmured guiltily. "We should've...we should've listened to Edwin more!"

"We should have left her at home." Remus said, taking his own turn at sighing. "But we didn't. We brought her with us, we've done our level best to keep ourselves to ourselves and we liked to think we knew better than Edwin did."

"And now look," Dora said, gesturing over to the bedroom door with a wave of her hand. "Carrie's paying for it."

"We'll think of something." Remus insisted, reaching to take hold of her hands in his. "We will, we just need to keep thinking...there must be other clues..."

"It started off with dreams. She had dreams about Kit...inappropriate ones, she thought."

"Then it definitely is a gradual process. And we still have time, I don't think anything drastic shall happen today. If we'd nearly lost her she wouldn't have chased after Ted like she did earlier. If she were entirely under somebody's control she wouldn't have cared about Teddy's feeling at all. I still think it's an old magic, potion based or not. Everything here is old, this is an ancient place, the people have traditions that go back generations..."

"Like protecting their daughters from the wicked soul in the woods by sending them to Hogwarts?"

"Exactly..." Remus trailed off into silence, staring intently at the witch sat beside him, thinking furiously until suddenly, something clicked. His grip upon his wife's hands instantly tightened.

"Spit it out." Dora whispered, leaning eagerly towards him, and the werewolf drew in a deep breath to whisper back:

"I know what makes you so very different from Carrie. I know why you were protected from Kit's magic when she was not."

"Oh?"

"You're no _virgin maid_, darling. And the Carter family have always had a poor reputation when it comes to those."

Dora's eyes widened in realisation and she pulled one hand free of his grasp so that she could press a hand to her mouth.

"Of course!" she exclaimed, "That makes perfect sense! Alaric Carter wanted to kill his wife's five sisters to control the valley, but he only killed the youngest, the eve before her wedding!"

"Matthias Carter ensnared Tabitha Layne and kept her locked up in Carter cottage because he was in love with her, she threw herself at a rampaging dragon to escape him. She would have been a virgin too if she had yet to marry."

"The spell must have failed..."

"Or simply not have been complete."

"And Sable. Sable was Kit's girlfriend, she was a teenager, she'd have been thought pure too." Dora's hand fell back to her lap as she frowned deeply and wondered: "Why on earth would you kill the girl you loved, though? Alaric Carter meant to all along, he didn't love his wife's sister, and Matthias Carter's girl effectively committed suicide...but Sable...why would Kit kill Sable if he were in love with her?"

"Perhaps he didn't. Perhaps she committed suicide too."

Dora gave a shudder.

"Poor girl..." she murmured, only for Remus to get to his feet and pull her up after him.

"Well that's not going to be Carrie." the wizard insisted resolutely. "Come on, we have some research to do."

Snatching up a cloak each, they met Neve and a still-drunk Samuel at the door, and left the house with murmured assurances that they would return by the end of the day. Then they slipped through the crowds and along the road until the reached the edge of the village.

"We've either the Ministry's library in London or a trip further north." Remus decided as they strode purposefully up the hill away from the valley, and as she reached to slip her hand through the crook of his arm, Dora admitted:

"I'm not sure alerting the Ministry right now is such a good idea. You know what they're like, they'll go barging in there with all sorts of threats, wands blazing. No, we ought keep this calm and quiet, for Carrie's sake at least."

"Well," Remus said, one hand fumbling in the pocket of his robes to extract his wand. "Hogwarts it is, then." And with that, he gave his wand a purposefully swipe through the air, emitting a burst of silvery light, and a silvery figure streaked off through the trees, out of sight within the blink of an eye.

And up and down the country the everyday activities of the former members of the Order of the Phoenix were interrupted by the appearance of a familiar looking shining figure. They paused in their baking in their kitchens, their carefully writing of reports at work, their listening to the wireless, their tidying up of their offsprings' bedrooms, to regard the apparition as it informed them all:

_This is a call to arms. To all those members of the Order who can, please assemble at the gates of Hogwarts as soon as possible. Our enemy is ignorance, our battlefield is the school library and our struggle is one of an academic nature. Dora and I have found ourselves faced with a conundrum that desperately needs an answer. Please help us, all of you who can._

Then, as an apparent afterthought, the voice added:

_It's Carrie, by the way. She's done it again. _

And with that, the patronus disappeared.

Molly Weasley set down the wooden spoon in the mixing bowl upon the table before her, dusting the flour from her hands upon her apron as she called:

"Arthur, dear? Did you hear that? It's Remus! He says Carrie's done it again!"

And in the next room, Arthur Weasley turned off the wireless with a sharp tap with his wand.

"Well Molly," he called back as he heaved himself up and out of his chair. "It was bound to happen again sooner rather than later!"

And as the patronus disappeared from his office in a flash of silvery light, Head of Aurors Harry Potter dropped his quill down upon his desk with a distinctly resigned sigh. To his left the large fireplace burst into life, and amid the crackling green flames his wife's head appeared, promptly asking:

"Harry! Did you see it? Remus' patronus, I mean..."

"Of course I did, Gin." Harry muttered despairingly. "I've been practically _waiting for it_ ever since Tonks told me they were taking Carrie with them!"

"What in Merlin's name was Tonks thinking?" Ginny Potter wondered, bordering on amused, and her husband shook his head in incomprehension as he admitted:

"I have no idea..."

Whilst the Potters discussed their friends' apparent bout of insanity, Hermione Weasley was busily ordering her two children to get their shoes on. Once satisfied that young Hugo's laces were entirely knot-free, the witch swept impatiently into the living room of her house in order to demand:

"Wake UP, Ronald!" She hastily snatched up the nearest cushion from a chair and flung it in the direction of her husband, who was lounging around upon the sofa, dosing. It hit him square in the face, waking him with a start.

"Bloody hell, Hermione!" Ron complained, reaching to bury his face in his hands with a groan. "I was asleep!"

"This isn't the time to be sleeping, Ron." Hermione informed him briskly. "There's an emergency!"

Ron groaned again, nevertheless heaving himself up into a sitting position.

"Why, what's happened?" he asked, grinning as he joked: "Has Carrie _done it again_?"

There was a sizeable pause as Hermione pursed her lips firmly together, keen not to laugh, and at the sight of her Ron promptly collapsed back down upon the sofa with a muttered:

"Oh bloody hell! She has, hasn't she?"

Meanwhile, in a small room labeled "Enter at Own Risk", located off the side of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes stockroom, George Weasley watched the patronus disappear and turned to cheerily inform his eldest brother sat beside him:

"Well then, Bill, you know what this means, don't you?"

"It means I get to skip being your test subject for the afternoon?" Bill suggested, sounding rather relieved, only for his face to fall when George held out a hand to him and corrected:

"No, it means you've lost and owe me five galleons. You said she wouldn't get herself into trouble for at least another six months!"

Whilst Bill was busy counting out the coins from his wallet, at the Ministry of Magic Minister's Secretary Mandy Brocklehurst looked up from filing her nails in time to see the door to her right open. As Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt strode out into the hallway, she offered him a bright smile and announced:

"I've postponed your meeting with MLE so that you can have dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Gudgen as planned."

"Excellent." the Minister murmured as he strode briskly past her desk. "Now you couldn't do just one more thing for me, could you?"

"What's that, Minister?" the witch inquired, and as he disappeared on up the corridor, he told her:

"Cancel dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Gudgen."

"Minister...?"

"It's Miss Winters, Mandy. She's done it again."

And so it was that by the time Hogwarts Headmistress Minerva McGonnogal had fetched herself a cloak to hug around her shoulders and had made her way down several flights of stairs, along a number of corridors, out into the school grounds and down to the school gates, a small crowd of Order members were there waiting for her. Few words were exchanged until she had opened the gates and led the way back up towards the school. As they strode up the vast gravel drive, Molly Weasley finally inquired:

"Nice holiday, Tonks dear?"

"Lovely, Molly." Dora told her cheerily, only to frown a little when a muttered: "While it lasted."

Despite the apparent crisis, talk amongst the gathered witches and wizards was surprisingly mundane. George began to tell Ron and their father all about his latest plans for his shop, Ginny spent a good few minutes admiring Dora's new cloak and Kingsley expressed to those around him that the weather in the Scottish Highlands was, today, rather gloriously sunny.

They filed through the castle doors into the Entrance Hall and continued to chatter as they mounted the marble staircase. Eventually they arrived in the library, in which they located a suitably large gap in the bookcases filled with desks and chairs, a blackboard set against the wall beside a window. Without instruction, everybody took a seat, and as Remus walked to stand before them all silence at last fell.

"Can't help but feel like we've been here before." Ron admitted with a grin as Remus drew his wand and a stump of chalk lifted itself from its ledge in order to scrawl words upon the blackboard.

"I'd shut up if I were you," Dora whispered non-too quietly, "else he might put you in detention..."

"Alright then, _class_." Remus consented to calling, offering them a raised eyebrow that caused a few of his former students to snigger. "Carrie's in a spot of bother..."

"_Again_!" Dora added, and at her interruption her husband instructed:

"No calling out! Ten points from Hufflepuff. Now, here's what we know so far..."

Within half an hour they began to plunder the vast bookshelves for clues, trailing along the dim aisles of tomes searchingly until one caught their eye, before adding it to the increasingly vast mountain of books back upon the desks. They soon strayed into the darkest corners of the Restricted Section, passing shelf upon shelf of grizzly titled texts and selecting a few every once in a while. Back at their desks they set about examining their hoard, skimming through pages and running figures down contents pages, feet tapping impatiently and lips pursed in concentration.

"It's like Flamel all over again." Ron muttered wearily as he dumped another stack of books down upon one desk, and as Remus closed the book he was looking at, Hermione abandoned her own book in order to pass him yet another one.

"Anything?" the witch asked as the werewolf accepted the book, and with a sigh he was forced to admit:

"No, not yet. You?"

"No."

"What about you, Dora?"

From where she sat upon the floor, surrounded by such a mess of discarded volumes that the sight would make Madam Pince faint in horror, Dora turned a page with a vague grunt.

"You'll know if she finds something." Kingsley teased as he passed, several more books tucked under one arm. "She'll positively squeal with glee!" He was forced to hop sideways when in retaliation he metamorphmagus promptly stuck out a foot to trip him.

"We'll find something." Harry insisted from his seat beside the window, and as she tossed one book inside and snatched up another, Dora muttered:

"I hope so for all your sakes. Because nobody's leaving until we do."

The hours wore on until the sky outside grew burnt orange and pink, and they searched and searched until their eyes grew tired and the books felt heavy in their hands. As the sun set they were forced to light lamps and squint at the texts in the dark, and a couple of members had just began to dose off, their heads upon their desks when Hermione rose abruptly from her chair, book clutched in her hands as she drew in a gasped breath to exclaim:

"I've found it!"

The others instantly abandoned their own books in order to gather around the desk, and Hermione placed the book carefully down so that they could all eye it keenly.

"Wow..." George muttered as he gazed down at a rather elaborate illustration that had been printed upon the left hand page, and Professor McGonnogal wrinkled her nose distastefully and murmured:

"Indeed!"

As she eyed the image of the trio of naked maidens draping themselves provocatively around a man dressed in early Medieval-style wizard robes, Dora felt rather compelling to look elsewhere.

"What in Merlin's name is a book like that doing in a school?" she wondered, and Hermione told her:

"It's from the Restricted Section."

"Oh well then!" Ron sniggered. "That's just fine..."

His wife shot him a withering look before reaching to turn a page, upon which appeared to be a primitive sketch of a stick-like figure surrounded by numerous annotations.

"First recorded in Gilmore's Chronicles of Celtic Enchantments, copies of which first circulated Wizarding Britain in the early Medieval period, this enchantment is known as the Maiden's String. Thus named because it allows one to control those who are pure...as a puppet is controlled by its strings." Turning back a page again, Hermione tapped a finger upon one paragraph as she explained: "Like many ancient dark magic, it relies upon gaining control of a person by owning a piece of them, such as a hair..."

"Nice..."

"The magical process requires first a potion to be brewed. It sounds awfully complex, but the key ingredient is a thick handful of reeds. They are soaked in the potion overnight before being removed. The reeds are then fashioned into a mannequin, here..." Turning back to the diagram, she pointed again and Dora reached to rake a hand through her hair with a despairing groan. "This is a representation of the victim, who then drinks the potion, and the hair or other piece of them is then attached to the mannequin, creating a connection between the two..."

"Oh Merlin..." Remus mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut at the notion as Dora asked:

"How do you break it?"

And Hermione stared down at the book despairingly as she admitted:

"I have absolutely no idea."


	16. Clarity

_Note: So here I am, back off hiatus...ish! (I'm not quite where I planned on being, but I'll be there pretty soon.) To celebrate, here follows a cliffhanger of epic proportions! Don't worry, I won't leave you with it for long..._

_**I've now written all of the remaining chapters for this 'fic** – there are three including this one – and will be posting them over the coming days. For more ramblings about my update schedule for other 'fics, take a peek at my profile where (hopefully) all will be explained! _

_It only remains for me to say: thank you for being patient with me (not that I gave you a whole lot of choice, of course!) and thank you for being understanding about my recent absence. Oh, and thanks for not getting too furious at my fake-update/Author's Note!_

_**I should also warn you all that this chapter contains scenes of an adult nature. More adult than last time, too, so consider yourselves WARNED!**_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**16: Clarity**

It was all such a horrible, dreadful, muddled blur and as she lay upon her bed, curled up into a ball, face buried in her arms, Carrie Winters was having difficulty piecing together the events of the past few hours.

The kiss. That was the first thing. The fact that it had happened first was about the only thing that the muggle could truly decide upon, she couldn't understand a whole lot else. Like why she had kissed Kit Carter in the first place...

Except of course that was obvious.

Except of course that it wasn't obvious at all.

And then there was the talk with Teddy. She couldn't seem to be able to recall it very clearly, only awful snippets that made her want to sob harder than ever.

"_I was just...just thinking about him, that's all. I was just thinking about Kit."_

"_What were you thinking about him?"_

"_Just...things..."_

"_What sorts of things?"_

"_Does it matter?"_

"_I don't know, does it?"_

"_Why are you being like this?"_

"_I'm not being like anything, Carrie. It's you. You're being..."_

"_Being...?"_

She shouldn't have pushed it. She knew that much. But she had, somehow, and he'd pushed back and before she knew it she'd managed to say something utterly dreadful.

"_I don't know what you're thinking, Teddy. I love you!" _

"_Do you?"_

"_Of course I do, I love both of you..."_

"_Both of us...?"_

"_Yes...no! I mean...I don't really know..."_

"_Is this some sort of...of joke?"_

She should have said yes...

"_No..."_

She hadn't a clue what had possessed her to admit what had happened with Kit in the woods. She didn't know quite how it had happened, it had simply...slipped out...

"_How can you love somebody you barely even know?"_

"_I just do. I know I do, but...but..."_

"_You don't just anything, Carrie! You don't even bloody know him..."_

"_But I kissed him..."_

"_Wh...what?"_

"_And you don't just...just kiss people, do you? I kiss you because I love you, so...so..."_

"_Why would you...why would you do...do that? I...I don't...I just don't..." _

It had all gotten a bit much for Teddy round about then. He'd fled back into the cottage and she'd run after him, pleading with him to...what? She didn't really know. She didn't know anything, nothing made sense...

She didn't know what to do except for sobbing and crying until her eyes were out of tears and she felt utterly drained and exhausted. It wasn't long before she had drifted off into an uneasy dose, and she felt as if she had been lying there for an age when she heard the bedroom door handle being carefully turned and the door was pushed slowly open. As soft footsteps crept across the room towards her, Carrie found herself holding her breath, jumping a little when she felt the mattress shift beneath her as somebody sat down upon the edge of the bed. There came the soft thump of discarded shoes and before Carrie could uncurl herself to peer over her shoulder she felt a familiar arm slipping around her middle and a voice instructed:

"Go back to sleep."

Carrie promptly shifted in an attempted to look round at him, drawing in a deep breath to say...something...anything, only for him to insist:

"Don't say anything. Go back to sleep."

His body against her back was warm and cosy, and despite everything Carrie found herself shifting further back against him with a sigh.

"I'm...I'm sorry..." she mumbled after a couple of minutes, and his grip upon her tightened as Teddy suggested:

"Let's not talk about it."

This seemed both foolish and sensible all at once. Surely, Carrie mused, this horrible situation of theirs needed to be talked about. And yet she didn't quite trust herself to utter a word. She didn't seem to be able to say anything right these days, no matter how hard she tried.

She felt surprised by just how serene an atmosphere drifted over the room as they lay upon the bed together, for she had quite dreaded facing him after their terribly argument. After a while she perceived herself to have fallen asleep, and Teddy seemingly thought so too for he chose to break his own rules of silence in order to whisper:

"Don't you worry, Sweetheart. There's no-one who can take you away from me. Especially not a boy like Kit Carter."

"How do you know?" Carrie whispered back, the realisation that she was in actual fact awake making both of them flinch.

"He's a nobody." Teddy murmured, leaning to press a kiss to her temple. "He's nothing."

Carrie felt a stab of annoyance at this analysis, only for it to fade when Teddy asked:

"What's a boy like Kit Carter to a man like Ambrose Kraft?"

Carrie shuddered.

Ambrose Kraft was not a name to be uttered lightly by anyone named Lupin. Indeed, as a family they seemed more flippant about the likes of Voldemort than they were Ambrose Kraft. The business with Kraft, and it was business because any other word would be too personal and difficult, was too recent for flippancy. The mere thought of the man made Carrie feel uneasy. It didn't matter that the scoundrel was dead.

"What's Kit Carter to the likes of Titus Goyle or...or Rodderick Mortell?" Teddy went on, and at this final name and the recollections of the damage he had caused Dora, Carrie instantly flinched and mumbled:

"Don't."

"But it's true." Teddy insisted. "Look at all we've been through these past few years! I'll be damned if you're running off with a nobody like Kit!"

"He's not a nobody..."

"I don't care what he is. I love you. And you love me...even if you think you love both of us, you _definitely_ love me."

There was a long pause before Carrie managed to sort through the muddle of thoughts in her head to observe uncertainly:

"You're not...angry...?"

"Of course not, Sweetheart." Teddy told her, as if it were terribly obvious, which it most certainly wasn't as far as Carrie was concerned, indeed his lack of anger was utterly bewildering. The wizard reached to sweep the hair back from her face as he propped himself up on an elbow, smiling down at her rather as if he thought her a little slow. Carrie got the distinct impression that he knew something she didn't, but then again she supposed that was nothing new. It never was.

"Besides," he said, giving an exaggerated wink, "where's the harm in a bit of healthy competition?"

"Healthy competition?"

"Mm."

"You think I'm a...a competition?"

"Aren't you?"

Carrie opened her mouth to reply, only to promptly close it again when she realised that she had no idea what her answer ought be.

"It was bound to happen sooner rather than later." Teddy went on, brow creasing in mild contemplation. "Personally I thought it would've started ages ago. I thought I'd spend half my life beating them all off of you with a stick...all those boys over at that university of yours...! I'm surprised I can turn my back on you for half a second!"

Carrie managed a rather uncertain chuckle. She wanted to admit to him that his sudden lack of anger was entirely unfathomable to her, that in fact it very nearly made her feel worse, but she didn't trust herself to explain, instead she simply mumbled:

"You're much too good for me."

Teddy gave an entirely unconcerned shrug.

"That's what Dad is forever telling Mum." he pointed out nonchalantly. "Never stopped them though, did it?"

"That's because your dad is wrong. He's perfectly good enough for her."

"Is he?"

"Of course he is! You know it..."

"Do I?"

"Are you trying to say he isn't?"

"Of course he isn't, Carrie. My mum's like a stray firework, she zooms through life in such a blur of enthusiasm and excitement that Dad can scarcely keep up with her! She's always bright and bubbly and he's depressed or sickly at least half the time! She lost her promotion to Harry thanks to being married to Dad! You can't have a Head of Aurors who goes AWOL for a day or so practically every month to patch up a werewolf after full moon! She always wanted that position, you know, ever since she first met Mad-Eye Moody, and look now, she'll never get it! Merlin knows what she'd have made of herself if she hadn't gotten married, if she and Dad hadn't met, but I'd bet you the family vault she'd be flying higher than she is right now."

"Your mum soars, Ted." Carrie insisted, brow creasing at his criticism. "So what if...if she doesn't get promoted, she's still a decent Auror...she's still good at what she does..."

"She's not another Moody though, is she?"

"Who in Merlin's name would want to end up like Mad-Eye Moody?"

"Mum would, that's who. And she could have been, why else d'you suppose he singled her out when she was young? But none of that's going to happen now she's got Dad. So he's right, he's not good enough for her. But who honestly cares in the end? She'd still pick him over soaring any day." Teddy leant to press a kiss to the muggle's brow in an attempt to chase away the creases. "That's how it goes." he told her simply. "And if you're so convinced you're not good enough for me it doesn't matter. Because it's like Mum says. I don't care."

At this simple declaration Carrie felt awash with relief, and as he leant to kiss her she found herself quite overcome by such a flood of emotions that reality suddenly seemed quite a mystery to her.

It was the same troubling thoughts of right and wrong, a preoccupation with the blurry line between the two. Lying there, so warm and comfortable in Teddy's arms felt so wonderfully natural, his lips against hers so entirely right...

Wrong. Awfully wrong, somehow...each soft kiss like betrayal stabbing her in the gut...

Such a warm, pleasant stabbing sensation, more like a tingling that made her want to fidget closer up against him in the hope he might move closer to her too...

And as time dragged on they grew agonizingly closer, the stabbing grew fiercer and ever more desperately pleasing to feel his fingers skim the hem on her dress, her own fingers toying with the buttons on his shirt...

It was quite like being back in the woods as they had been some days previously, except the intoxicating ache of desire was gloriously guilt-ridden and for some reason that she couldn't put her finger on, Carrie found the guilt more stirring than ever.

Except it wasn't guilt. It simply wasn't. It was triumph. Sheer triumph as he dropped his wand in favour of trailing a hand carefully up her leg, because really this was right. Entirely right. It was always right, she and Teddy. They couldn't ever be wrong, not even with _him_ around.

She had to think _him_ just then, she couldn't give him a name, couldn't let him invade this right now because it was far too perfect without any added confusion. Perhaps she might think of him later, who knew, but right here and now there was just her and Teddy and his hand slipping further up her leg...

The hand stopped.

Carrie might very well have cried as Teddy drew back to gaze down at her in consideration just then because for the first time in days her mind had felt entirely clear and focused...

So focused, in fact, that she didn't feel nervous. Not one bit. Indeed Teddy had barely opened his mouth to speak before she had breathed:

"Let's...!"

"Let's...?"

She didn't want to waste any time. There wasn't time, there simply wasn't! Who knew when her mind might feel clouded again, when the guilt might return, when she might find him slipping back into her thoughts. And she was certain. So completely certain. Even more certain than she had been back in the woods and she swore had he not stopped back then things might have gone anywhere, she'd not have thought to stop...

And there would be no stopping this time, there really wouldn't, and why ought there be? After all why could they not go the whole way when she suddenly knew for sure:

"I love you."

It was strange, she mused fleetingly, that those three simple words seemed to leave Teddy quite stunned as if he hadn't expected them in the slightest. His face positively lit up and he reached to cup her face in his hands as he whispered:

"Do you really?"

She only felt a vague sense of uncertainty before deciding:

"More than anything."

"I told you so." the wizard murmured, and with that he leant down to kiss her again.

She felt a little worried that he didn't quite understand, that she hadn't technically made herself entirely clear, that she might have hesitated a moment too long. For a moment these thoughts sent her heart racing in panic because it had suddenly occurred to her that she did not simply long for him, this was not simply heady teenage lust. It was need. It was a need for proof. Proof that she was right to ignore the burning of guilt in her belly, proof that she wasn't mistaken that he was the one that she loved.

And what better proof could there be than the two of them making love? Right then Carrie was sure she could think of no better proof on Earth. Maybe that was silly and childish and some fairytale bond that wasn't half as sacred as she thought it was, maybe giving away one's virginity wasn't the grand piece of symbolism she thought just then. After all if a large proportion of her fellow students at University were anything to go by sex was simply a meaningless act that one could brag about later to any poor individual who would listen.

But Carrie was sure that wasn't true. Sex was whatever one made it. And if she wanted to make it some sort of unbreakable bond then why not? They could do with something to hold them together, something to help keep her guilty thoughts of her Kit away...

Her Kit...

Carrie closed her eyes and tried best to concentrate on Teddy's lips trailing down her jaw. When she found her thoughts wandering to imagine just how it would feel if Kit were in Teddy's place she hastily snapped her eyes wide open and reached to grasp hold of Teddy's discarded wand.

"Do it..." she told him, wincing at sounding pathetically desperate as she pressed the object into Teddy's hand. "Do...the...the spell..."

"The spell?" Teddy breathed, sounding rather nervous, and Carrie very nearly said: _Yes, the spell your dad showed you_. But she found the words sticking in her throat. She didn't want to mention parents or anything of the sort right now, it really wasn't the best time...

"Are you sure?" Teddy asked her, and she felt a little nervous herself when she asked:

"Don't you want to?"

The wizard gave a huff of amusement.

"Do dragons have wings?"

Carrie frowned at him. She didn't really feel as if this were the time for jokes.

Kit probably wouldn't have made jokes if it had been him. He was much too...

"I'm very sure." Carrie insisted, disturbed at her mind wandering, and she felt relieved when, mind made up, Teddy gave the wand a vague wave and mumbled a long, unintelligible word under his breath.

No wonder one shouldn't perform it when drunk, Carrie thought, pleased with that rather than thinking of Kit, and she was certain Kit would stay out of her mind from that second on for Teddy promptly dropped the wand onto the bed beside them and leant to kiss her again.

And yet her mind continued to wander every few moments, it was a battle to keep the thoughts at bay. She wondered if Kit would grow so hesitant, she wondered if he would be nervous...

"Are you nervous?" she whispered a few minutes later as Teddy lay, face buried in the crook of her neck as his fingers toyed with the hem of her dress that he had managed to coax up above her hips.

"Maybe a little." he confessed, which Carrie thought rather surprising because he had seemed at all nervous about anything like this before.

"Me too." she admitted, shifting against him so that she could hug him tightly. Her own nerves were probably far less surprising. Except of course they were for an entirely different reason. But she wouldn't tell Teddy that. She wouldn't tell him she was afraid she'd ruin their moment by imagining Kit in his place. After all she was doing relatively well on that front so far...

Teddy slowly drew his head back in order to drop a kiss onto her shoulder.

"Well I don't suppose you've much to worry about." he assured her between kisses as his lips made slow progress down the neckline of her dress, the movement making her shiver. "I'm sure I've never seen a more beautiful sight in all my life, than you lying here."

It was so very like Teddy, Carrie mused, to think that a simple observation of beauty could make things better. And it was so very like Carrie herself to agree with him. She was sure just then as she felt him reach to set about slipping the underwear down towards her ankles that at last her mind wouldn't wander, it couldn't...

Would Kit snag the elasticated garment upon her knee too, or would he find undressing her far easier?

It was, Carrie later supposed, far more fumbling and awkward than the poetic and beautiful series of movements that she had imagined. But then again Teddy had always seemed to suspect it would turn out this way, of course it would...

Not that Carrie had really noticed. She'd been far too preoccupied with the thundering of her heart, growing louder and faster, crashing repeatedly against her ribcage as the moment drew closer...

She fleetingly wondered if it would hurt. Or just how it would feel. How she would feel, how he would feel...

What if she didn't actually like it? Would that be awful? Would she tell him? If she did tell him, would he be dreadfully embarrassed? If she didn't tell him how long would it have to go on for? What if afterwards he wanted to do it again? And if she hated it would that mean there was something wrong with her?

What if she did like it but he didn't? What if she wasn't any good at it? What if she was just useless and just lay there...

If she wasn't going to just lie there, what was she supposed to do? She didn't really know, and what if...

Her thoughts were cut off abruptly by his hands upon her and at his touch she drew in a deep breath and held it.

She was pretty sure he was holding his breath too, for she did not feel even the ghost of his breath upon her as he carefully took a moment to rearrange the two of them until he was astride her. She closed her eyes, face buried in his shoulder as if she wasn't quite sure she could bear to look...

The flood of intoxicating feeling that washed over her half a second later when he finally pressed himself into her was oddly muted. She'd thought it would quite overcome her and yet as the two of them froze, his grip upon her so tight that had she felt more aware she might have thought it painful, Carrie found herself more concerned with the sudden throbbing sensation in her head, as if she had been struck in the temple by a beater's bat.

The muggle drew in a gasping breath of surprise.

Did it always feel like that? She wondered as she felt Teddy's lips against her head curve into a smile, no doubt entirely oblivious to her sudden headache. Surely not!

She would ignore it, she decided as her intake of breath seemed to spur him into movement again. Concentrate on everything else...

It wasn't difficult. Not at all. She was quite sure that she had never felt more alive and wonderful in her whole entire life and as time went on the piercing headache began to fade, smothered by such a rush of feelings and sensations that she felt utterly consumed by them...

And yet she could manage one clear realisation: Something was different.

Her mind felt...clear. Crystal clear for the first time in days. She couldn't think of Kit. Not as she had done before. It felt wrong when before it had felt right, the notion of loving him was downright absurd...

What in Merlin's name had she been thinking? She wanted to throw back her head and laugh hysterically at herself because it seemed impossible that such thoughts and feelings had ever occurred to her at all.

Yes, something was certainly different.

Some while later found she and Teddy lying in a tangle of furs and blankets, discarded clothes replaced haphazardly, hearts still hammering and breathing ragged.

"Ted?" Carrie whispered rather breathlessly as he reached a lazy hand down to re-arrange the skirt of her dress. "I think...I think..."

"You think?" Teddy echoed, face positively glowing as he beamed down at her questioningly, and she managed to tell him:

"I think something's...different." When he looked rather as if he might snigger at her, she insisted: "Not...not like that! I mean...I mean I'm not sure...it's just...well..."

She was cut off abruptly by a sudden, blood-curdling shriek and as both she and Teddy snapped round to look towards the source of the noise there came an almighty crash as a jet of red light smashed straight through the window, shattering the glass into millions of pieces, before streaking across the room and striking Teddy square in the chest. As she watched the metamorphmagus slump back against the pillows, hand limp around the wand he was midway through snatching up from atop the blankets, Carrie screamed. No sooner had the piercing cry of alarm left her lips there came a sudden fluttering noise as a familiar looking little bird shot through the smashed window, and in the blink of an eye it was gone, replaced by a pink-faced Kit Carter who landed upon the bed with a thump. Carrie was just attempting to scramble to her feet, ready to shout for Remus and Dora at the top of her lungs when the animagus lunged forward, throwing his arms tightly about her, his grip so strong that it knocked the air from her lungs. As she fought desperately to get free from him, Carrie wondered why on earth nobody had come running to investigate the commotion, but as an elbow to the gut failed to loosen Kit's hold upon her Carrie supposed she had no choice but to assume that she was on her own.

Which was deeply unfortunate, the muggle discovered, for half a second later she found herself flung from the bed, landing sprawled upon the wooden floorboards, and half a second after that she felt herself struck rigid by a full-body-binding curse.

And just a short while after that, Kit Carter dragged a helpless Carrie Winters back across the room and out of the window...

When Remus and Dora Lupin arrived back at the cottage some five minutes later, they found Carrie Winters absolutely nowhere to be seen.


	17. Woodland Confessions

_Note: And here we have, I hope, a change in Carrie at long last..._

_I'm sorry about the confusion in the last chapter – I've never attempted such a scene before, so it was bound to be a bit on the ropey side! It probably wasn't terribly sensible to write a 'fic like this, come to think of it, but...well it's a bit late now...!_

_Thanks to everybody who took the time to review the last chapter! _

_There is one last chapter after this one and then this story is officially finished._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**17: Woodland Confessions**

She'd known something wasn't right...somehow. She'd just known.

Dora Lupin didn't like to think that she had some sort of sixth sense when it came to trouble. That just sounded daft, arrogant even. No, what Dora had was paranoia that had a nasty habit of being entirely justified...

Not that she liked to think of it like that, either. Paranoid wasn't the right word for her, even if that was exactly what she was. It sounded far too..._Moody_...

It hadn't stopped her half-running the last few meters to the cottage door, where she very nearly ran into Neve who looked somewhat startled to be caught outside.

"I just went for some air," Neve told the Auror as Remus caught up with them. "I've such a headache! All this...all this drama...! Anyway, I left Samuel on watch. Did you find out anything useful?"

"A few things," Dora admitted as she reached to push the door open to lead the way inside. "Not a whole bunch of solutions, mind you..."

"You...you don't know what to do?" Neve asked, sounding positively alarmed, and the Auror muttered:

"We're working on it..." At the sight that met her eyes, Dora came to such an abrupt halt that Neve very nearly walked straight into the back of her. Raising an arm to point over at the figure sprawled upon the sofa, Dora asked: "What the bloody hell is he doing?"

Neve shuffled sideways to spot her son lying fast asleep, snoring loudly and utterly oblivious to the world.

"Oh Samuel!" the witch exclaimed, sounding utterly ashamed of him as she hurried forward, reaching to shake him awake. "You stupid boy! You're supposed to be keeping watch!"

Samuel groaned, face contorting in annoyance at his drunken slumber being disturbed, and Dora wasted no time in striding across the room towards Carrie's bedroom door. Things were going distinctly downhill. This wasn't how it was meant to go, it was frustrating, quite tiring even, she was sick enough of drama as it was. As she hammered a fist upon the door, Remus sighed heavily before consenting to following her.

"Teddy love?" Dora called impatiently. "Can we come in?" Not waiting for a reply she reached to push the door open, plastering a suitably cheery expression on her face, ready to pretend to Carrie that all was well...

Only for the sight of smashed glass and a gaping hole in the window to wipe the look clear away again. Her eyes instantly snapped over to the bed, where she spotted Teddy, who appeared to be fast asleep, and...

"Where's Carrie?" she breathed, reaching back to grasp hold of Remus by the arm as he peered past her into the room, his eyes widening in alarm. "Where is she?"

"Oh Merlin..." Remus practically mouthed, rocking back on his heels apprehensively, only for Dora to make a beeline for their sleeping son on the bed with a exclamation of:

"I'm going to kill him!" And with that she reached to seize Teddy by the shoulders, shaking him roughly as she demanded: "WAKE UP, THEODORE!"

Teddy's eyes blinked open and he gazed up at the bleary figure of his scarlet-haired mother to mumble:

"Wh...what?"

"WHERE'S YOUR BLOODY WAND?" the Auror exclaimed, releasing him so that her hands could fly to her hips. "Where is it? What did I bloody tell you to do with it? I said DON'T PUT DOWN YOUR BLOODY WAND!"

"It was right next to me..." Teddy protested feebly, head swimming as Remus wandered over to examine the smashed window, his expression positively bleak.

"Well that's not bloody good enough!" Dora cried, swinging an arm up to point over towards the smashed glass. "Carrie's GONE!"

"I...I only put it down for...for a few minutes...I..."

"Oh? And what was so important that you thought that was a good idea?"

"I...well...we were just..."

"You were just?"

Teddy's gaze dropped to his lap as he heaved himself up into a sitting position, face flushing as he explained:

"We were..._having a cuddle_."

"A cuddle? Oh, well then...!" Dora turned on her heel to stalk furiously over to Remus' side, scowling at the glass crunching under her boots. "That's just bloody fantastic, isn't it? So much for keeping natural, Sweetheart, I thought you'd had a big row!"

"_Dora_." Remus murmured meaningfully, reaching to press a calming hand to her shoulder, but the witch shook her head vigorously.

"We should've dragged her off to Hogwarts with us!" she complained. "If we want a job done properly, Remus, we'd better bloody well do it ourselves, next time!"

"I'm sure there won't be a next time, darling..." the werewolf attempted to assure her calmly, only for his wife to snap:

"This is Carrie we're talking about! Are you taking the piss?"

"Of course not." Reaching to pull her into a firm hug, his grip upon her tight enough stop her from yanking herself irritably free from him, Remus glanced back over at Teddy to ask:

"Are you alright?"

"He cursed me...Kit, I mean..." Teddy said, getting slowly to his feet, blinking the groggy blur from his vision. "We were just...just lying on the bed and all of a sudden he smashed the window and...and the next thing I knew, Mum was yelling at me..."

"Damn right..."  
>"Dora, <em>be quiet<em>. Don't take any notice of your mother, Teddy, she's just...well...worried. Besides, things didn't go terribly well at Hogwarts. We're pretty certain we know what's going on but we've not a clue how to fix things..."

"And now he's taken Carrie..." Teddy observed, face clouding in worry. "Oh Merlin...what are we going to do?"

"We'll get her back." Remus assured him, unnaturally calm.

"Then what?" Teddy asked, reaching to pick up his wand at long last. "We get her back and then what?"

The werewolf offered his son a rather grim smile.

"We'll jump off that bridge when we come to it." he said.

When she was finally pulled to an abrupt halt in the middle of the woods, some distance from the cottage from which she had been snatched, Carrie Winters very nearly collapsed upon the ground, utterly worn out.

She'd struggled the whole way there, having been released from the full-body-bind when her assailant had found her lack of movement more of a burden than a help. Some minutes earlier she had broken free of Kit Carter's vice-like grip upon her, but had only managed to run a couple of paces before he had grabbed hold of her again. The further into the woods they had walked the more furious Kit had grown, his breathing heavy and increasingly frequent grunts escaping his lips that Carrie thought quite possibly the oddest sounds that she had ever heard grace another person's lips.

As they came to a halt, Carrie found herself turned to face him and quite suddenly the steadily increasing panic that had been building up inside her faltered at the unexpected sight before her.

For Kit Carter was not furious in the slightest.

No indeed, the young wizard was crying. Sobbing, bawling, face pink and streaked with tears...

Carrie had never seen a more sorry looking soul in all her life. Carrie felt suddenly quite relieved, albeit bemused, and she let out a breath that she hadn't realised she had been holding. Before the muggle could think to say or do a thing, the animagus had reached to fling his arms around her, crushing her against his chest and burying his face in her shoulder.

"It's all RUINED!" he cried, voice hoarse from his hysterics, and despite feeling rather tempted to push him away from her, Carrie felt compelled to reach and pat him gingerly on the back.

"What...what's ruined, Kit?" she consented to asking, flinching a little when his grip upon her tightened to the point of being painful as he exclaimed:

"EVERYTHING! Everything's ruined! Everything's...everything's lost!" He paused to smother a sob into her shoulder and Carrie was beginning to think that perhaps he was far past the strange that Teddy had suggested and was fast approaching unhinged when his next words brought a flood of fear rushing back into the pit of her stomach.

"It's going to...h...happen again!" Kit complained woefully, positively trembling in grief. "He's going to...going to make it happen again like...like it did to...to my poor Sable!"

Carrie sucked in a deep breath in an attempt to steady her nerves and she tried in vain to lean back from him as she dared to wonder:

"What happened, Kit? Tell...tell me what happened to Sable..."

"I don't want to lose you!" the boy whimpered, his slumped weight against her making the muggle stumble, and quite suddenly Carrie found herself recalling their odd little romance and meeting in the woods that, now, felt entirely alien and strange to her, as if it had all happened to somebody else.

Clearly Kit had no inclination to think in such away, judging from his tight hold upon her, and at the thought of all that had passed between them recently Carrie felt the urge to push him away renewed with great ferocity.

She felt unclean. Dirty. Sick, being clung to in such a way, being seemingly obsessed over...

She managed a strained chuckle as she mumbled:

"I'm...I'm not really sure I'm yours to lose, Kit. I mean I...I think you're being a bit...well...well you barely know me really and then there's Ted and I and...well..."

"I love you!" Kit declared, the words half lost amongst a sob. But they were terribly clear to Carrie, they made her flinch.

"Yes but...but you see, Kit, I don't really see how you can...like I said you don't really know me all that well..."

"I...I do love you, I do..."

"I think you're...you're a nice boy and everything and I know what's been going on recently has been...well..."

"I don't want him to take you away!"

At long last Carrie gritted her teeth and yanked herself away from him, taking a good few steps backwards and folding her arms firmly across her chest.

"Listen!" she cried, frustrated at his unreasonable babbling. "I...I don't know what you think you're doing...smashing that window and hexing Teddy and...and kidnapping me like this! And I've tried to be nice, but you're just not listening to me! Now stop...stop saying such silly things and...and tell me what's going on! Who's going to take me away? What...what happened to Sable?"

For a long moment, Kit stopped sobbing as he stared at her, stunned. Carrie momentarily considered making another bid for freedom, but she didn't want to provoke any more hysteria, so instead she drew in a deep, calm breath and repeated:

"What happened to Sable, Kit?"

Kit rocked back on his heels with a sniff, reaching to swipe a hand across his watery eyes.

"She was beautiful." he whispered, gaze suddenly far away at the memory. "She was the most...the most beautiful and wonderful girl in...in all the village!"

"And she was your girlfriend, wasn't she?" Carrie prompted, nodding encouragingly, and the animagus admitted:

"Not...not to begin with, not at first. I...I used to...used to watch her when she went out walking. I'd...I'd sit in trees when I was transformed and...and just watch her...she was so lovely, my Sable, she really was!"

"She sounds wonderful." Carrie agreed, feeling a little more relaxed now that he seemed quite lost in his recollections.

"She was, she was! But...but she'd never have looked twice at a boy like me. That's what Uncle Alucard said. He...he said no girl would...would want me. Not a single one of them, not ever...he said I was too...too odd and...and scrawny looking..."

"But he was wrong, wasn't he? Sable wanted you, didn't she?"

"Uncle said I couldn't...I could ask her to be my girlfriend. He said it was a waste of time, she'd laugh at me! But he said...he said he could help me! He could help me make her love me...like...like I loved her!"

At this notion, Carrie's eyes widened apprehensively as she dared to ask:

"How...how did he do that?"

"With magic, of course!" Kit breathed, eyes widening too in awe at the idea. "Sable was enchanted! All...all I needed to do was make her drink the potion Uncle made..."

_"Would you...would you like a drink? If you've been out here for...for such a long while..."_

_Carrie was pretty sure that she hadn't mentioned just how long she had been walking for, but she had to admit that she really was rather thirsty and it was a welcome distraction from their sudden awkwardness._

_"Yes please...if you've got one, that is..." she mumbled, only to jump when Kit leapt to his feet._

"...and then...then I just needed a strand of her lovely hair. I flew into her room one night whilst she was sleeping and plucked one from the hairbrush on her bedside table..."

_"You um...there's a..." He reached carefully forward to pluck something out of Carrie's hair, lips twitching shyly towards a smile as he finished: "...a twig in your hair." For a moment he held the offending piece of woodland debris out for her inspection before hurriedly dropping his hand back down to his side._

"And then Uncle Alucard made a...a doll, a figurine and he enchanted it and...and that was it! Sable loved me and I loved Sable and everything was perfect!"

"_It's alright." she heard the animagus whisper, still smiling as he reached to brush the hair from her eyes. The movement made the muggle shudder._

_And...it was alright._

_It was all alright._

_It was better than alright. It was wonderful. It was magnificent. Glorious..._

_Carrie Winters was sure that despite her hazy mind she could have thought of a thousand or more other words to describe just how serene and perfect everything was at that precise moment in time, but half a second later she felt too overcome by sensation of Kit Carter's lips against her own._

Carrie felt rather as if she might be sick, she could feel her stomach twisting into knots and she could taste bile in the back of her throat.

"Sweet Merlin..." the muggle breathed in horror, taking another good step backwards, only for Kit to let out an abrupt sob as he recalled:

"But...but then it was ruined! I...I ruined it, I broke the rules!"

"What rules?" Carrie cried, her disgust beginning to give way to fury that she had been manipulated in such a sickening manner. "What did you do?"

"I...I spoilt her! I ruined her, I ruined my Sable..."

"How? How could you ruin her, I don't under..." Carrie trailed off, reaching to press a hand to her mouth in near realisation as she recalled her first evening in the Vale, eavesdropping on Teddy and his parents...

_"They used to say there was some sort of monster...an evil soul, they used to call it, that roamed around the woods."_

_"Cool..." Teddy muttered, only for Remus to mutter:_

_"It is isn't it? Just like Mildred and her mirror..."_

_"Supposedly it used to snatch children out of the woods surrounding the village." Dora went on, ignoring Teddy's shudder._

_"Virgin maids, if I recall correctly." Remus mused..._

"She was so beautiful!" Kit complained bitterly. "I...I just forgot myself, just once! It was only once, we were walking in the woods and we were all alone and...and...it just sort of happened! We lay down under a tree by the stream and it was wonderful and perfect and I couldn't help it, I had to do it, I thought...I thought perhaps it wouldn't matter! I thought she'd still love me but...but she changed! She screamed! She screamed and cried and...and hit me and tried to push me away and I...I didn't know what to do! I just didn't know! I had to put my hand over her mouth to keep her quiet! But...but then...but then Uncle Alucard came running and he...he shut her up!"

"What do you mean he shut her up?"

"He...he stunned her and...and dragged me away! He was furious! He said the enchantment was broken, that I'd ruined everything! It doesn't work on...on impure girls! I ruined everything! And...and then he said...then he said he'd have to put a stop to her! So she couldn't tell a soul! I begged him not to, I pleaded with him, I really did! But...but...!"

"But he murdered her, didn't he?" Carrie whispered, mouth growing dry, and Kit gave his head a feeble nod.

Carrie screwed her eyes shut, attempting to fight away the fear and panic that that one small movement caused. She could feel herself trembling as Kit whispered:

"And then you came! I saw you in the woods and I thought...I thought you were so beautiful! And then you fell in the stream and I dragged you out and you talked to me...you were so lovely! I knew I loved you from that moment on! I went and told my uncle and...and he said we could...we could try again just as long as I didn't ruin things again! He said I was to keep you pure or else! So...so I did, I was careful but...but then...but then _he_ got his filthy hands on you and now it's all ruined! And now you know everything! My uncle will have to put an end to you, too!" Before Carrie could protest he had lunged towards her and thrown his arms around her again, hugging her fiercely as he complained: "I won't have you taken from me, Carrie! I won't!"

"Alright then," Carrie attempted to reason, struggling to pull herself free again only for them to stumble backwards until her back hit a tree trunk with a thud. "You don't have to lose me, Kit, you don't. It can all be alright, just...just let me go and...and let me go back to Edwin's house..."

"NO!" Kit cried, agitated at the thought as he lent to bury his face in her shoulder once again. "I won't have you leave me! I love you!"

"Kit, we need to go back to the village, there are people there who can protect me..."

"NO! They'll take you away from me! You...you're mine! You're my girl! N...not...not Ted's or...or anybody else's, you're mine! I love you!"

"I don't need love!" Carrie cried frantically, face contorting in fury and revulsion as his lips came to press against her neck. "Are you out of your mind? Your uncle wants to KILL ME! I don't need love, I need PROTECTION! Wands! Aurors! People who aren't...aren't completely and utterly out of their bloody minds!"

"I'll protect you..." Kit endeavoured feebly, only for the muggle to let out a somewhat hysterical shriek of laughter before crying:

"Like you protected Sable, I suppose?" At mention of his darling Sable again, Kit let out a fresh wail, only for Carrie to give him a firm shove away from her as she declared:

"Stop it! I'm going back to the village this instant!"

She was about to make a run back towards the cottages when a voice amongst the trees made her freeze in panic.

"Oh I'm afraid not, my dear girl." Alucard Carter called as he stepped out from the trees before her, his wand drawn and raised purposefully. "No, you won't be going anywhere at all..."

Teddy Lupin was beginning to feel unbearably frustrated.

Of course, the metamorphmagus mused as he hurried along just behind his parents as they stalked purposefully through the trees, eyes darting this way and that and wands clasped firmly in their hands, he had always known his mother could prattle on about anything for years without pausing for breath if the fancy took her, but in all honesty he didn't think now was really the time. She'd long given up on explaining to him precisely what she and his father had found out from their ransacking of the Hogwarts library and was now babbling mindlessly about whatever happened to come to mind.

"...obviously we've got no choice," the Auror was saying, speaking at such rapid speed that Teddy could barely understand her, "we'll have to get her to Mungo's...which means we'll have to get her back up the hill in order to apparate her away and that's a bloody long distance to leg it if we have to do a runner and..."

"Mum?"

"Not now Ted! If we're going to do that we'll need at least two of us because somebody's going to have to have hold of her and the other'll have to watch their back..."

"Mum?"

"I said not now, Ted! But of course if we split up we'll cover more ground..."

"But Mum..."

"Teddy for Merlin's sake be quiet! What d'you reckon, Remus? It'd be so much bloody easier if we knew how to break this enchantment..."

"Mum!"

"...or at least knew how many we're up against because of course it might not just be Kit, there could be others in on it too like that uncle of his...even though he's bloody ancient..."

"MUM!"

At long last Dora came to an abrupt halt, so sudden that Teddy narrowly avoided walking straight into the back of her as she demanded:

"For Merlin's sake what is it, Teddy?"

Teddy drew in a deep breath to finally spit out the words that he had been attempting to speak for the past ten minutes or so, only for the sight of both of his parents looking at him questioningly to make them die in his throat.

"Well?" Dora asked after a sizeable pause, fidgeting impatiently, and Teddy's hands reached to fiddle apprehensively with his wand as he explained:

"I...I don't think...I don't think we have to worry about...about breaking the enchantment. It's...it's already broken, I think..."

"It is?" Dora said, eyes widening in surprise, and Remus' brow furrowed as he wondered:

"How?"

Teddy opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no words came out.

"Well..." he finally managed, grip upon his wand so tight that he thought it might snap in half. "I um...well..."

"You what, Sweetheart?" his mother probed impatiently. "Spit it out, Ted! We don't have all day!"

"D...does it really matter?" Teddy asked, gaze upon his shoes. "I mean...it's broken, I'm pretty sure Carrie said so, so...I don't think it really matters how it happened. It just...did..."

"Enchantments don't just disappear, Ted." Remus pointed out, and his son's face bloomed pink as he agreed:

"Well no, I know that but...but well...can't we just forget it? Move on..."

"How can you be sure?" Dora asked, folding her arms across her chest and fixing him with a stare. "Tell us what happened, that way we can know for sure!"

"I don't think I need to, really..."

"Of course you do!"

"No really, I don't!"

"Yes you do, Ted! If you don't tell us then how can..._oh. Oh_..."

At the apparent realisation in her voice, Teddy flinched.

There was a long, dreadfully awkward silence as Teddy wished the ground would open up and swallow him. Remus reached to rub a hand across his eyes and Dora pursed her lips firmly together before again mumbling:

"Oh..."

"Yes, oh!" Teddy mumbled back. "So um...can we...um...can we just..."

"_Cuddling_, right?" Dora half-whispered as if she had to be entirely clear on the matter, causing her son to complain:

"Mum!"

Remus cleared his throat loudly.

"Let's move on, shall we?" the werewolf decided, turning to lead the way on through the trees. "Like you say, Dora, we don't have all day!"

"I think we should split up." Teddy announced, because he'd like nothing more at that moment in time than to put a couple of hundred trees between himself and his parents, and apparently they felt similarly as they both agreed:

"Good idea!"

"We can talk about this later." Remus added, and before Teddy could protest Dora had rounded on him, eyes wide.

"Do we have to?" she asked, looking rather as if she wanted to snigger, and the werewolf admitted:

"Probably. Very briefly."

"Excellent!" the witch declared, both amused and horrified all at once, which Teddy would have thought an impressive mix of emotions to convey in a single word had he not been so horrified himself.

"I'll um...I'll go this way, shall I?" he said, and with that he turned and headed off in a direction at random, not waiting for a response.

Teddy's utter horror at the conversation that had just passed between himself and his parents was somewhat short lived, for he immediately became preoccupied with the task at hand: Finding Carrie.

He tried not to think about how long she had been gone or what might have happened to her in that time, tried to steel his nerves and banish the swell of apprehension in his stomach. He simply needed to concentrate. He needed to find her. Get her back to Edwin's safe and sound.

He'd done such a rubbish job of keeping her safe and sound previously, as his mother's utter fury at him back at the cottage had reminded him, that not only did he want Carrie to be rescued, but he wanted to be the one to do it himself.

Just to prove to his mother that he could do it. That he wasn't a failure. That he had inherited the right genes. Of course Dora had by no means meant to sound so damning when she had discovered his great blunder, Teddy knew full well that she had simply been panicking. But that hadn't stopped the young wizard developing a sudden and fierce desire to play the hero.

If Dora caught wind of such a notion Teddy was pretty certain that she would want to hex it right out of him. Because of course heroics had absolutely nothing about it, it never did with things like this. It was more about the simple fact of what was right, of what was necessary, and if one happened to be viewed as a hero in the process then so be it. Besides, it never did to attempt to label oneself a hero. It was, Dora said, big-headed and not to mention shallow...

And yet...it was all rather appealing...

Revenge was an ugly thing too. Remus was always dead set against it, which Teddy had reminded him was a tad hypocritical given what Remus and Sirius had planned to do to Peter Pettigrew upon becoming reacquainted with him in the Shrieking Shack all those years ago.

_You were going to kill him in revenge!_ Teddy had pointed out, and Remus had shrugged rather unconvincingly and told him:

_But I didn't. _

_Only because Harry intervened!_

_Maybe. But the point is, I didn't. _

_Well I wish you had_, Dora had muttered, face contorting into a scowl,_ you'd have been doing the world a massive favour! _

Teddy had to admit that his mother was right. And yet so was his father. Revenge wasn't pretty, no matter what it achieved (because in the case of Pettigrew Teddy had to admit that contrary to what Remus said it would have probably achieved a great deal.)

Revenge against Kit Carter probably wouldn't achieve anything worthwhile at all. After all as far as Teddy was aware the muggle-snatcher wasn't about to help orchestrate the rebirth of one of the most evil and feared dark wizards of all time...

And yet, despite all of this, revenge was awfully tempting...

Teddy's thoughts were cut off abruptly by the sound of voices, and he hastily made a dive for the nearest tree trunk, flattening himself against it. As he sucked in a deep, steadying breath, the young wizard mused that his thoughts had left him to wander quite some distance. He wondered vaguely quite how far he was from the village, how far away his parents were, and just how true Dora's musing about safety in numbers were...

It didn't matter, he told himself firmly. He was here now...

Assuming of course that here was where he wanted to be, that it had been Kit and Carrie's movements that he had heard...

Slowly, gripping his wand tightly, he leant carefully out from behind the tree, squinting searching through the woods before him, and promptly jerked backwards again at the sight of the tree figures stood amongst the trees; Alucard Carter stood with his back to Teddy's hiding place, wand pointing at the two figures cowering against a tree before him. Teddy could barely make Carrie out, for Kit was stood before her, his arms spread wide in an attempt to shield her as he cried:

"Uncle! Please!"

Teddy set about slowly creeping forward, pausing behind trees in an effort to stay hidden, fighting to resist the urge to make a mad dash towards the trio...

Carrie pressed herself back against the tree trunk, fingers digging into the bark as her heart hammered furiously in her chest. She wondered precisely what she ought say to the elderly wizard who had made such a mess of her life recently and who was now intent on ending it entirely. What did one say to persuade such a twisted mind to think differently? The muggle had come across a range of twisted individuals over the years, but had rarely had much luck pleading with them.

She'd done a spectacularly poor job persuading Ambrose Kraft not to obliviate her. The vague memory was a distinctly painful one, and yet Carrie found herself determined to think of it, to think of what went wrong, what she might have done differently. She was sure a man as unreasonable as Kraft would never have listened, but perhaps Alucard Carter would...

If there was even the slightest chance that she could talk her way out of this, in any way at all, Carrie was determined to swallow her fear and argue and plead for all she was worth. As a muggle she had little other defence.

"Step aside boy!" the old man demanded, "It must be done!"

"No!" Kit whined, his raised arms trembling nervously. "I...I won't...I won't let you do it!"

His uncle let out a disbelieving laugh, wrinkled features crinkling in amusement.

"What's a worthless creature like you going to do to stop me?" he asked, and Kit's pose instantly slumped, disheartened.

"Don't listen to him, Kit!" Carrie exclaimed, shooting the old man a scowl. "Don'y you listen to him! You're not worthless! Not in the slightest!"

"He's a disgrace to the name Carter!" Alucard snapped, only for Carrie to reach to snatch the wand from Kit's pocket.

"He's a brave and talented young man!" she insisted furiously. "He's...he's a kind and loving boy when he's given a chance! And that's more than can be said for you, Mr. Carter! What sort of a man tells his own nephew that he's a disgrace? Don't listen to him Kit! Take your wand! Stand up to him!"

"I...I can't..." Kit mumbled, grip upon the wand that she pressed into his hand so limp that she was forced to wrap her hand around his to keep hold of it.

"Yes you can!" she hissed, "You're not worthless, you're a talented wizard! You...you're probably one of the youngest animagi that there ever was! That's a big achievement! You're brave! You jumped into that stream and you dragged me out! Don't let your uncle push you around!"

"If she lives they'll all find out the truth about you!" Alucard snarled, "and then what? Then what are you going to do? You'll be in Azkaban by morning, mark my words!"

"Don't listen, Kit." Carrie hissed, yanking the young man's arm up so that his wand was pointing feebly in his uncle's direction. "He's poisonous! The Ministry will understand, I promise, I...I know it'll be alright...Ted's mum'll keep you safe, she's got influence, they'll listen to her! Please!"

"I don't know wh...what to do..." Kit breathed, "I...I don't know..."

"Don't let him disarm you!" Carrie hissed back, her grip upon his hand tightening. "Block him! Shield us!"

The last syllable left her lips as the final threads of Alucard's patience finally snapped, and within the blink of an eye the furious wizard had sent a flash of red light streaking through the air.

"Block!" Carrie shrieked, giving Kit's hand a firm yank sideways into the wide sweeping movement that she had observed on a number of occasions over the years, and she silently willed to hear the customary accompanying declaration of...

"PROTEGO!" Kit declared, a split second before the spell reached them, and it promptly rebounded off a sudden shimmer in the air, before hurtling back across the clearing, missing Alucard by a fraction of an inch...

Midway through making a run for still closer cover, Teddy was forced to throw himself sideways to avoid the spell, and his non-too graceful landing upon the floor caused a loud enough thud to give himself away. Alucard turned towards the source of the noise, and at the sight of the new arrival lying sprawled on the floor, he instantly raised his wand...

"STUN HIM!" Carrie demanded, nails digging into Kit's hand as she yanked his arm back to take aim, only to stumble as Kit thrust his arm forward with a shout of:

"STUPEFY!"

Alucard was forced to turn to block the spell, leaving both Kit and Carrie to dive out of the way again as the spell rebounded on them. They were just beginning to scramble back to their feet when a fresh burst of spells lit up the trees. Carrie turned to see Teddy on his feet again, a bombardment of stinging jinxes bursting in quick succession from his wand as he backed off a few steps, ducking when Alucard paused in his attempts to shield the attacks to send a flash of orange light in the metamorphmagus' direction.

"CARRIE, RUN!" Teddy shouted as he was forced to take refuge behind a tree, only to fire a couple more blind curses in Alucard's direction, one of which struck the old man in the shoulder, making him stumble. "BOTH OF YOU!"

Carrie reached to grab hold of Kit by the hand, and as Teddy sent an array of red sparks shooting up into the sky the muggle picked a direction at random and began to run, dragging Kit after her.

It was not long before they gave up holding hands, and Carrie felt utterly disorientated as they sprinted blindly through the trees, hearts hammering along to their thudding footfalls. Carrie had no idea where they were going, what direction they were headed, she didn't care, they simply had to put as much distance between themselves and Alucard as was possible...

CRACK!

No sooner had Carrie spotted the flash of light out of the corner of her eye, there came a sickening snapping sound and a shriek of pain. The muggle skidded to a halt just in time to turn and see Kit crumple to the ground, face contorted in agony as he gasped in another breath to let out a wail...

"Lie still and quit screaming!" a familiar voice demanded from somewhere to Carrie's left. "I was being soft on you!"

As Dora strode out from amongst the bushes, Carrie numbly looked down at Kit, his right leg hanging at a sickeningly impossible angle that made the muggle feel somewhat faint.

"Y...you've snapped his leg like a twig..." the muggle pointed out in horror as the Auror came to a halt beside the collapsed figure, looking down at her handiwork thoughtfully. "That's soft...?"

"I snapped _a_ leg!" Dora muttered impatiently, "I left his other one, didn't I?" And with that, she raised her wand again, causing Kit to screw his eyes shut.

"Don't hurt him!" Carrie begged, springing forward to plant herself in front of the whimpering boy. "It's not what you all think! It's not his fault, not really!"

Dora pressed her lips firmly together in consideration before stepping forward, free hand reaching for Carrie's shoulder, pulling her forward.

"Look at me." the Auror instructed firmly, dark eyes piercing as Carrie obediently stared back at her.

"I'm alright, I'm...I'm me, I really am! I know you think I shouldn't defend him, but I'm not crazy, I'm really not!" Carrie insisted, fidgeting impatiently. "Did you see the sparks?" When Dora merely continued to gaze at her searchingly the muggle gave an impatient huff and asked: "I said did you see them? Did you see Teddy's sparks?"

At long last, Dora let go of the muggle's shoulder.

"Teddy's sparks?"

"He's duelling Alucard!" Carrie cried, and the Auror's expression grew instantly grim.

"Oh bloody hell..." she muttered, reaching to rake a hand through her hair. "I'd hoped he'd simply spotted you, that he was chasing after you..."

"No! No, Kit and I were running away from Alucard, not Ted! Alucard wants me gone, Dora! He wants me dead! Kit was...Kit was trying to protect me. He doesn't want me dead at all, it's just Alucard, he wants to keep everything a secret! He doesn't want me to tell anybody what's happened!"

Dora glanced back down at Kit, her expression distinctly regretful, only for both she and Carrie to spin around at the sound of rushed footfalls.

At the sight of Kit lying sprawled upon the ground, Remus came to a skidding halt, only for his wife to demand:

"Don't just stand there, Remus! Alucard Carter's trying to hex our son into oblivion whilst you're taking a breather!"

"Oh Merlin..." Remus muttered breathlessly, consenting to hurrying forward until he could look down at Kit. "What's going on here?"

"He was running away from me." Dora shrugged, and when Carrie frowned the Auror admitted: "Well...he was running _past_ me, at least. Anyway turns out he's not the danger. It's his uncle, he's the one behind it all. Ted's duelling him, he sent up the sparks."

As the two adults set about murmuring hurriedly to one another under their breaths, Carrie dropped down to the ground beside Kit, reaching to lay a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright," she whispered, smiling at him encouragingly. "You'll be alright, they don't mean you any harm. They'll all understand, it won't be too bad."

"What about Uncle?" Kit asked as without a word Dora turned and bolted off in the direction of Teddy and Alucard's fierce duel. "What will they do to him?"

"I don't know, Kit..." Carrie admitted, frowning deeply, only for Remus to drop down at Kit's other side, expression bleak.

"What we do with Alucard entirely depends." the werewolf murmured as he reached to examine Dora's ugly work on Kit's leg.

"On what?" Carrie wondered, and as Kit let out a moan of protest at the werewolf's probing Remus muttered:

"On what Alucard does with Teddy."


	18. Woodland Duel

_Note: And here we are at the final curtain! :-)_

_I hope you have all enjoyed reading this story, thank you very much to everybody who has taken the time to review! It is always wonderful to hear from you. I know I say that all the time, but it really is true, you all make me smile and feel very loved! :-)_

_To anybody who is interested, I will be posting the first chapter of the next story in this series straight after this! So...I hope you all enjoy that too, should you decide to read it!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**18: Woodland Duel**

It was a funny thing, running.

Because it was one of the few movements that Dora Lupin could achieve without managing to be dreadfully clumsy about it. In an odd way she rather preferred it to flying. Magic was such a lazy affair, what with summoning spells and apparation, sometimes it felt good to get some air in her lungs and make her heart race, the steady thump of her boots upon the ground was somewhat satisfying...

They ran every Monday at the Ministry without fail, back and forward across a gloomy little gymnasium just up the corridor from Auror Headquarters, reaching one wall before the sparks burst from the designated instructor's wand. Then they would dash back in the opposite direction, knowing that the sparks would come steadily sooner and there would be shame on anybody who didn't reach the next wall fast enough. Steadily, once they had successfully run the required distance to pass this weekly test, people would slowly begin to drop out, leaving those who remained to resort to sprinting...

Dora rarely made it to the end, these days. Or even close. Indeed, her required distance was being reduced for a third time soon enough on account of her age. It felt quite shameful, getting older. If she didn't watch out she'd always been the one hiding in the bushes, waiting for the younger Aurors to do all the hard work flushing out the enemy...

Merlin help her when she got old enough to retire. She'd refuse, of course, she and Remus didn't have the savings for her to retire on time. They'd stick her behind a desk and leave her there. It was going to be awful.

But for now, she was still running. Sprinting. And the prospect of what she was sprinting towards was by far more urgent than a simple blast of sparks...

She could see smoke ahead, drifting steadily up into the sky, and though the sight of it made her want to run even faster she forced herself to begin to slow down, grip upon her wand tightening.

A tree had caught fire, she saw as she finally came to a halt, the bark smouldering and as a branch snapped off and fell to the ground the Auror's gaze darted around searchingly for signs of a duel...

It didn't take her long to spot it, a fast and furious flash of spells just beyond the burning tree. The Auror instantly made a beeline for the chaos...

Through the smoke and smouldering wood she spied Teddy, staggering back against the weight of spells being flung at him, one arm limp at his side, his shirt torn and bloody at his shoulder. And there was Alucard Carter, stooped and staggering himself but apparently fiercely determined to finish the younger wizard off.

Dora immediately took aim, squinting rather uncertainly through the smoke, before sending a jinx shooting forward. It missed the old man by mere inches, but took him entirely by surprise, causing him to stumble backwards, gaze darting around in search of his second opponent, and he had barely spotted her before Teddy had sent another hex tearing through the air towards him. With a sharp flick of the wrist, Alucard sent the spell ricocheting sideways, and Dora found herself blinking a moment too late as it struck her in the arm. Cursing under her breath as she felt her wand slip from her fingers. The witch dropped flat to the ground, hastily groping around for the fallen object, only for a second stray curse from Alucard to get deflected back and forth between Teddy and he, until Teddy's final shield was cast clumsily, causing the curse to bounce sideways, striking the burning tree with such force that it snapped a hefty branch clean off the trunk, flinging it through the air...

Dora felt a dull sense of resignation as she flung her arms up to shield her head, and she felt the sudden weight of the wayward branch upon her back, she tried with all her might to ignore the cracking of bone, the piercing pain in her spine, thinking desperately:

_Aresto momentum!_

The branch came to an abrupt halt, just short of no doubt crushing her spine into smithereens, and Dora dared fling an arm out, at last managing to snatch up her wand, and with that she hurled the branch in Alucard's direction, before promptly flopping back down upon the leafy ground, grimacing in pain.

The branch struck Alucard in the ankles, and as he staggered, struggling to keep his balance Teddy took definite aim and declared:

"Stupefy!"

The curse hit the old man square in the chest, throwing him to the ground, instantly out cold and there was a long pause as both Teddy and Dora simply froze, both sucking in deep, calming breaths before the young wizard dashed over to his mother's side, dropping to the ground beside him.

"Mum!"

"Good job, Teddy love." Dora breathed, struggling to peer up at her son, grinning despite her injury.

"Are you alright?" Teddy asked breathlessly. "I thought he had you, I really did..."

"Cracked some ribs, I bet that's all. And never mind me, what about you? I spent bloody ages getting the grass stains out of that shirt! Now look at it!"

Teddy glanced down at the bloody mess at his shoulder, as if he had quite forgotten it was there.

"He's not as old and feeble as he looks, Alucard Carter." he muttered, and his mother let out a snort of disdain.

"Yeah? Well you're not as young and clueless as you look, love. You don't mess with my boy, I can tell you that. I taught him far too well!" She managed a weak chuckle before informing him: "Dad's got Kit and Carrie. We should head for the village."

"What about him?" Teddy wondered, gesturing over at the limp form of Alucard lying motionless and still. Dora frowned deeply before asking:

"How'd you fancy shooting up some more red sparks? They're dead pretty..."

Left with Neve back at the cottage, having watched Remus drag a whimpering Kit back through the woods and deposit him in one of the bedrooms, the windows and door locked securely behind him before the werewolf disappeared back off into the woods, Carrie was left feeling somewhat guilty.

"Don't talk to him." Remus has instructed firmly as he had left, and the muggle had spent a long while sat obediently on the sofa, staring over at the bedroom door.

She felt wretched.

She felt tempted to ignore Remus' instructions entirely, creep over to the door and knock upon it, call to Kit through the wood...

Not that she had a clue what she ought say to him. But she felt she probably ought say something. After all, Kit had protected her, in an odd sense of the word, and she felt as though she had blackmailed him into doing so, as if she had promised they might be together...

Which they certainly were not. The notion was laughable, but it probably wasn't to Kit.

She wanted to apologise, to try and explain. Perhaps she'd tell him they could still be friends of some sort, if that would make him feel better, if he didn't want her gone entirely. Perhaps they could write letters...

There wouldn't be any harm in that, would there? Writing letters? She could ask Dora to pass them on at the Ministry whilst he was held there, have her find out an address for wherever he ended up afterwards, be it back here or in Azkaban...

She wouldn't tell Teddy. He wouldn't understand. He wouldn't like it...

But would Dora understand either? Would she think it would do more harm than good?

It made Carrie recall an odd conversation she had overheard at the dinner table one day. Dora had flung her fork down upon her plate and slumped back in her chair with a snigger, having stared at Remus across the table for some long minutes.

"Friends!" she'd sniggered, causing everybody else at the table to look up at her as if she were very strange indeed. "Can you imagine it now, Remus? If we were just friends?"

Remus had chewed thoughtfully upon his dinner for a moment before admitting:

"Maybe. That was the plan, after all."

"Well it was never my plan!" his wife had retorted, sounding bordering on offended, and he'd raised an eyebrow and pointed out:

"Yes it was. You don't believe in that love at first sight rubbish."

And the witch had rolled her eyes, sighing impatiently.

"But what if...what if we'd gone to Dumbledore's funeral as _just friends_? What then? Can you imagine it?"

"We probably wouldn't be friends now, I don't think."

"I don't think we would, either. We probably wouldn't have been friends back then, even. It would have had to have been all or nothing."

"Exactly."

"Ask me to marry you or sod off and let me curl up and die..."

No, Dora probably wouldn't approve. Or think it even remotely sensible.

But Carrie would ask, she decided. Just in case.

Carrie watched some long while later the reappearance of her three guardian angels and their prisoner.

She spotted Alucard first, and the sight of him made the muggle shiver. He was drifting along through the air, body limp as if invisible strings were holding him up by the shoulders, his feet dragging along the ground. Carrie was just thinking how disturbing the sight was when the unconscious old man veered wildly sideways into a tree, only for a voice to snap:

"Ted! Stop it!"

And there was Teddy, a large bloody gash upon his shoulder as he strode along, wand pointing at the captive, his expression distinctly cheery despite his injury.

Finally, some way behind him, came Remus and Edwin, Dora propped carefully up between them, their progression slow and cautious, yet they appeared to be smiling.

Carrie ran to them, dodging Alucard's creepy figure in order to fling her arms around Teddy, and as he threw his arms around her in return Alucard again veered off sideways until his feet upset a stray water bucket set beside a nearby cottage, causing Dora to snap:

"Teddy!"

"Are you alright?" Carrie cried as both she and Teddy ignored the shout of protest. "I've been so worried!"

"Everybody's fine, Sweetheart." Teddy assured her with a grin. "They've sent word to the Ministry, somebody'll be here any minute now to take Alucard and Kit into custody for questioning. It's all over...except, well..."

"Well?" Carrie asked, stomach giving a jolt when the grin faded a little from his face.

"It's Mum and Dad." Teddy admitted quietly, and Carrie instantly looked over at the adults worriedly. "They um...well, they _know something_..."

She had been certain that it would be dreadfully awkward.

Which was precisely why she had been avoiding them for the past four days.

Of course it ought have been awkward whilst they packed their suitcases, said goodbye to Edwin and his family and set off for home. But it hadn't. It had been entirely normal. Downright cheery, as a matter of fact.

Once home and in the privacy of her cramped little bedroom at Aunt Susan's flat, Carrie concluded that Remus and Dora had simply felt very relieved indeed. Much too relieved to bother with the awkwardness that came with the less than wanted knowledge that they knew precisely what it was that their son and his girlfriend had gotten up to recently during their time alone. Carrie reasoned with herself that there was no other way that they ought react, that they had probably been expecting it at some time or another, and yet when she finally popped round to visit she found butterflies whizzing around her stomach at an alarming rate.

She never was entirely sure what she had been expecting. But like usual with the Lupins it was nothing like she imagined.

She had let herself into the house and had called a greeting, only to receive none in return. Wandering down the hallway in search of life, she came across the two of them in the dimly lit study, both still as statues as they sat across from one another, leaning forward and staring at one another in silence, unblinking as if it were some sort of competition.

It was, Carrie mused as she paused in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe with a slight frown, rather odd.

"Hi..." the muggle greeted rather uncertainly, only for Dora to hiss:

"Shhhh!"

"Right..." Carrie mumbled, frown deepening. "Sorry..."

She waited patiently for them to...finish staring at one another she supposed, but after a few minutes they had barely moved a muscle, save for the ones that were making Remus' face contort into an increasingly frustrated expression. Eventually Carrie straightened up and took a step forward, unable to resist asking:

"What are you doing?"

For a moment neither witch nor wizard responded, and Carrie wondered if they had even heard her until Dora consented to informing her:

"We're practicing."

"For what?" Carrie asked, feeling tempted to snigger, only for Remus to shift in his chair in a distinctly irritated fashion that made the muggle suppose that sniggering was in some way inappropriate.

"Remus has a job interview tomorrow." Dora elaborated, and Carrie was torn between sudden elation and complete and utter bemusement.

"Wow..." she concluded, flinching when the mixture of feelings left her sounding somewhat sarcastic. "What...what sort of job is it?"

"An impossible one." Remus muttered, only for Dora to snap:

"Concentrate!"

"I am."

"You're not, you're talking to Carrie!"

"I doubt it makes any difference." Remus leant back in his chair, at long last breaking eye contact so that he could stare up towards the ceiling. "I can't do it."

"Well don't give up yet!" Dora insisted. "People don't learn Legilimency over night you know!"

"And yet," the werewolf observed dryly. "Here we are..."

"Well if Snape could do it, I don't see why you can't."

"Let's not bring Snape into it, for Merlin's sake. I don't know what you were thinking, putting my name down like that."

"It's the perfect job, Remus. It's only once a week so they won't get funny about you being ill and they pay a shedload of money to anybody half decent because they're desperately short staffed and it's highly skilled. _And_ it's a Ministry job, so they give you a pension..."

"I know, it's perfect. Perfectly stupid..._how long have you been practicing Legilimency, Mr. Lupin? __Oh I'd say about...twenty four hours!_ I'm not dusting off my best suit to go over to London and make myself look like a complete and utter fool just to keep you happy. I won't do it."

Carrie shuffled back a little until she could lean against the doorframe again, sensing the beginnings of an argument.

"You can't tell them you've only been doing it for twenty four hours." Dora said, entirely ignoring everything else that her husband had said. "It's been illegal to learn Legilimency outside of an approved Ministry accredited centre for at least a decade...you'll have to tell them you learnt it years ago, that you've not done it since the laws have changed..."

"Dora..."

"...that'll account for you being a bit rusty."

"A bit rusty? Dora, I can't even tell you what you ate this morning and I washed up after breakfast!"

"You just need to be able to be able to spot a liar when you see one, that's all!" Dora rose to her feet, apparently entirely undeterred. "Tell you what, I'll go and stick the kettle on, make a cup of tea, and you can practice on Carrie."

"What?" Carrie said, not entirely pleased to have herself volunteered, only for Dora to wave an insistent arm at the now vacated chair and demand:

"Sit down here, Carrie love, there's nothing to it. Anyway, you're probably even easier practice than I am. I might be his wife, but you're a muggle..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Carrie murmured warily as she consented to shuffling forwards towards the chair, and she offered the witch a scowl when she was informed:

"It means mentally you're a pushover. D'you fancy a biscuit, Remus love? I bought chocolate digestives on the way home yesterday."

"Please." the werewolf consented to mumbling wearily, and as she made for the kitchen Dora called:

"And stop trying to be so clever! Use a bloody wand for Merlin's sake! Who d'you think you are, Voldemort or something?"

As Remus obediently reached to pick up his wand from the desk, Carrie gave an apprehensive laugh and muttered:

"For my sake I sincerely hope not."

"I shouldn't worry." Remus told her, aiming the tip of the wand disconcertingly close to her eyes. "I've not managed anything impressive yet."

"How long have you been trying?"

"About...three...four hours. It's utterly hopeless, of course. I don't know precisely what I'm doing..."

"That doesn't make me feel better, to be honest."

"No, I don't suppose it would."

"If it's hopeless why are you trying?"

"Because my failure is amusing."

"Is it?"

"To Dora it is, naturally."

"Didn't she just say it's illegal to teach yourself Legilimency?"

"Yes. That probably makes it infinitely more entertaining to her." Despite his apparent irritation at his prolonged failings, Remus offered the muggle a grin. "She knows I won't get the job just as well as I do. She just thinks this is...fun."

"I wouldn't if I were her." Carrie admitted, frowning deeply as he adjusted his grip upon his wand. "I'd hate somebody to be able to know what I was thinking!"

"Would you truly?" the wizard wondered, giving the wand a vague, experimental wave, and Carrie offered him a raised eyebrow.

"Wouldn't you?"

"That would wholly depend on who the person was and what I was thinking at the time." Remus gave the wand such a sharp flick that it very nearly flew from his hand, the movement made Carrie jump. "Take you and I, for example. Wouldn't you have been glad if I had known exactly what you were thinking, back in the Vale?"

Carrie's gaze dropped to the shiny surface of the desk before her and as she gazed down at her reflection in the polished wood she admitted:

"How could you have made any sense of it, if I hadn't myself?"

"That's the beauty of thoughts, Carrie. We all structure them differently. Who knows what I would make of what's in your head or what you would think of what's in mine? Of course Legilimency isn't the answer. Talking is. It's far less probing for everyday life, not to mention far more legal..." Remus trailed off into silence, frowning deeply for a moment before he set the wand carefully down onto the table and folded his hands together instead. After a while he cleared his throat meaningfully before admitting: "But of course talking is only ever any good when there is somebody who is prepared to listen."

Carrie looked up at him to find that his expression had grown distinctly guilty.

"Dora and I..." he confessed, pausing to sigh rather heavily, "Well, we've not really been listening, this past week or so."

Carrie swallowed the lump that had promptly formed in her throat.

"You've been on holiday." she reminded him in an attempt to brush off his observation, but the werewolf shook his head.

"There are some things in life, Carrie, that we don't get a holiday from. Being responsible adults is one of them."

Despite the serious expression on his face, Carrie sniggered.

"I'm pretty sure you've never been an irresponsible adult in all the years I've known you, Remus. Dora, perhaps...but not you..."

"You've been our responsibility, Carrie. Judging from your recent state of affairs I'd say we'd been grossly irresponsible. You can make excuses for us or dress it up any which way you like, but that is the fact of the matter."

"I'm pretty sure I'm old enough to be my own responsibility by now." Carrie reasoned, only for a voice from behind her to observe:

"Is that so? Well I'll tell you now then, Carrie love, you're doomed!"

"Shut up, Dora!" Carrie retorted as the Auror sauntered back into the room, grinning broadly at the look of mock-indignation that the muggle shot in her direction. "You're one to talk! If Remus hadn't been around at that party Merlin only knows what you would have wound up doing..."

"I think you find that if Remus hadn't been around I'd have wound up staying remarkably sober." the witch reasoned as she came to a halt behind her husband's chair, reaching to drape her arms around his neck. "Isn't that right, Sweetheart? You're a terrible influence!"

"Oh, the worst!" Remus agreed, leaning back until her chin came to rest atop his head as footsteps sounded back out in the hallway. "In fact I'd say with the two of us around, Carrie doesn't stand a chance in life at all."

"Good thing she's got me, then." Teddy observed as he came to stand in the doorway, offering Carrie a wide smile when she turned to look at him. When he held out a hand to her, Carrie rose from her seat, only to find Remus' gaze upon his son somewhat disapproving.

"Enjoy your staring competition." the muggle offered as she headed to join her boyfriend in the hallway, and the werewolf's lips twitched towards a smile before he murmured:

"Carrie?"

"Hm?" When Carrie looked round again, she found both Remus and Dora eying her intently.

"We're sorry." Remus said, and Dora's grip upon him tightened as she seconded:

"Very sorry."

"You've nothing to be sorry for..." Carrie began to tell them, only for Teddy's hand to enclose around her elbow and he told her:

"Yes they have."

"And so have you." Remus added, gaze upon the young wizard piercing, and Teddy swallowed a large lump from his throat and mumbled:

"Yes...I have."

Dora leant forward until she could bury her face in her husband's hair, and when Remus's eyes dropped to his hands Carrie felt rather as if she were missing something terribly important.

"What've you got to be sorry about, Ted?" she asked, feeling rather disconcerted when Remus' gaze immediately snapped back up to look at her, and Teddy mumbled:

"I um...well..."

"Perhaps you might go and pour the tea." Remus suggested, and Carrie found herself dragged towards the kitchen so suddenly that she thought they might very well have apparated there.

The muggle went to perch upon the countertop beside the kettle as she observed Teddy pouring the tea. The young wizard was frowning furiously as if the task required immense concentration.

"So...what's going on?" she asked after a minute when he had finally set the teapot back down upon the countertop. "You and your dad...well...something's going on, isn't it?"

Teddy sucked in a deep breath, his cheeks tinged pink.

"Dad has...pointed out to me that...well...well he didn't just point it out, actually, he...well he was rather furious...ashamed, even..."

"What? What's he got to be ashamed of?"

"Me, apparently. He's...he's rather ashamed of me. How I've...well..."

"Spit it out, Ted." Carrie insisted, feeling increasingly apprehensive, and Teddy was forced to suck in another deep breath before explaining:

"He strongly disapproves of us...of us sleeping together...the...the other day..."

"He does?"

"Very much so. Not...not because we're too young or not married or anything like that. It's not like that, not at all, it's...well..."

"Well?"

Teddy was staring down at the steaming cups of tea so intently that Carrie felt as if the intensity of his gaze might cause them to implode.

"_Don't sleep with drunk girls_. That's what Mum says. It's...it's taking advantage and it's not right..."

Carrie very nearly bit through her tongue in indignation.

"I wasn't drunk!"

"Yes but...but you were enchanted...which...which is the same thing or worse, Dad says. He said if you weren't enchanted you...if you had been in your right mind you might not have wanted to do it, that I can't have known for sure..."

Carrie attempted to fight away the sheer embarrassment that was flooding her face with colour in order to give her head a toss and insist:

"Well I know for sure that I would have!"

Teddy gave a snort, nodding over towards the kitchen door.

"D'you want to go and tell Dad that?"

"Merlin, no!" Carrie exclaimed, very nearly slipping from her perch in alarm at the mere notion, and the wizard sniggered despairingly and muttered:

"I thought not." He turned to look up at her rather shyly as he admitted: "Still, Dad has a point...as usual. So, I'm sorry."

"I'm not!" Carrie retorted, refusing to take the subject entirely seriously because quite frankly it was much too mortifying. "If we hadn't have done it I'd still be...well...Merlin knows!" When he barely smiled she offered: "I'll go and tell him _that_ if you like!"

Teddy smirked.

"Feel free to, Sweetheart." he said, holding an arm out towards the door.

Carrie didn't move.

"I thought not." Teddy said again.

**Finish.**


End file.
